Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Environmental Epidemiology - Coggle Diagram
Environmental Epidemiology
A common feature for all environmental exposures is that data are observed and usually involve low-level exposures which are difficult to measure and link to disease
Early realizations of the adverse affects of environmental pollutants came from 'natural experiments' or disasters- high levels of pollutants which lead to a dramatic increase in mortality or morbidity
Sources
Direct vs In-Direct
Point source vs non-point source
Ecosystem Mediated
Dose response and limits to dose response measures
Non- linear resonses
Low level measurements and effects from low levels
Graph of response at higher levels does not give good indication of response at lower levels.
Looking at developmental problems in the children of a certain population can give indication of issue.
Health Effects and Burden of Disease
Measured through DALYs and Death rate
DALYS - disability adjusted life years
the sum of the years of life lost to due to premature mortality (YLLs) and the years lived with a disability (YLDs) due to prevalent cases of the disease or health condition in a population
Basically, one DALY equals one year of full, healthy life that you may lose because you're sick and have a high risk for certain conditions, disabilities, or due to death. The number of years may add up based on how severe your illness might be
Causal vs Correlation
The link between the disease and the environmental factor needs to be established. Is the proof shifted to the producer or polluter.
Environmental epidemiology - involves the study and description of harmful effects on human populations from exposure to environmental agents.
Descriptive epidemiology – determining the occurrence of health outcomes in the population by person, place and/or time
Purpose:
To describe the distribution of diseases and health conditions within a population.
To identify patterns and trends in disease occurrence
Analytic epidemiology – examining possible etiology or possible causal link between exposure and health outcomes. It could be either an analytic observational or experimental study
Purpose
To investigate and identify the causes of diseases and health conditions.
To test hypotheses about the relationships between exposures and health outcomes.
Environmental Epidemiology in important
Valuable in risk assessment, standard setting, and other policymaking
Results can alert policymakers to new hazards and trigger regulations on permissible levels of exposure
Regulators and risk assessors make conclusions from the weight of epidemiological evidence
Health and environmental agencies regularly review epidemiological evidence and publish summaries
The concepts of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) and the Environmental Burden of Disease (EBD) both aim to quantify the impact of various factors on human health. However, they differ in scope and focus. Here’s a detailed comparison:
Global Burden of Disease
Purpose
To provide a comprehensive assessment of the overall health status of populations worldwide.
To quantify the impact of diseases, injuries, and risk factors on global health.
Environmental Burden of Disease
Purpose
To specifically assess the health impact of environmental risk factors.
To quantify how much of the disease burden can be attributed to environmental factors.
DALYS used for Burden of Disease
The Population Attributable Fraction (PAF) is a measure used in epidemiology to estimate the proportion of incidents in a population that can be attributed to a specific risk factor. It helps to quantify the public health impact of eliminating or reducing exposure to that risk factor.
Scientific Proof of Harm
Absence of evidence of harm is not the same thing as evidence of the absence of harm.
Flawed
Absolute safety can never be proven