Cardiovascular disease- a condition that involve narrowed or blocked blood vessels that can lead to a heart attack, chest pain, or stroke.

There are several things you can do to prevent cardiovascular disease including eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, getting enough physical activity, not smoking or using tobacco products, and limiting alcohol consumption.

A healthy diet consists of eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and eating less processed foods. Avoiding foods high in saturated fats, trans fat and cholesterol and high in fiber can help prevent high cholesterol. Another thing to do is to limit sodium intake which will lower blood pressure. Limiting sugar intake too can also lower blood sugar level to help prevent and help control diabetes. The best diet to follow is one full of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, fish, poultry and vegetable oils, drinking in moderation, not eating too much red and processed meats and refined carbohydrates. People who followed this diet had a 31% lower risk of heart disease. And a 20% lower risk of a stroke.

Keeping a healthy diet is important to maintaining a healthy weight. Being overweight increases ones chances of developing a heart disease. Waist size is also important because for people who are not overweight waist size will be an even better warning sign for increased health risks.

Another way of keeping a healthy weight is through physical activity such as exercising. This lowers blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar levels. Adults should be getting 2 hours and 30 minutes of exercise that is moderate in intensity, this includes; brisk walking or biking every week. Adolescents and children should get at least 1 hour of exercise every day. Exercising can also help control stress, improves sleep, boost mood and keeps weight in check.

Another way of lower your risk of heart disease is not smoking. If you currently smoke quitting will lower the risk for heart disease. Along with not smoking limiting the amount of alcohol consumed lowers your risk. Drinking too much alcohol can raise blood pressure. Men should have no more than two drinks per day and women should only have one.

Cardiovascular disease: conditions that involve narrowed/blocked blood vessels that can lead to health issues such as heart attack, hypertension, high blood pressure, or stroke.

• Symptoms: chest pain/tightness/discomfort, shortness of breath, pain or weakness in legs/arms, pain in neck, jaw, throat, or back, lightheadedness, dizziness, fainting, alterations in heartbeat, pale or blue skin, swelling in legs, abdomen or areas near the eyes, fatigue, dry or persistent cough, skin rashes or spots
• Risk factors: age, sex, family history, smoking, certain cancer treatments, poor diet, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, diabetes, obesity, physical inactivity, stress, poor hygiene
• Prevention techniques: quit smoking, focus on lowering blood pressure/cholesterol if they’re high, exercise (at least 30 minutes a day is recommended), eat a low salt/saturated fat diet, maintain a healthy weight, reduce and manage stress, practice good hygiene

Hypertension: abnormally high blood pressure (higher than 130/80)

• Blood pressure: force exerted by the blood against the walls of the blood vessels (120/80 is normal)
  • Pressure depends on work being done by the heart and the resistance of the blood vessels
• Symptoms: in most cases, there are no symptoms. However some people experience sweating, anxiety, sleeping problems, blushing, headaches, and nosebleeds.
• Risk factors: age, ethnicity, size & weight, alcohol & tobacco use, sex, existing health conditions, physical inactivity, salt-rich diet with processed/fatty foods, low potassium diet, certain diseases & medications, family history, poorly managed stress
• Treatments: regular physical exercise, stress reduction, healthy diet, some medications
• Hypertension-related atherosclerosis (narrowing of the blood vessels) can lead to heart failure, heart attacks, an aneurysm, kidney failure, stroke, amputation, or blindness from hypertensive retinopathies in the eye

Stroke: brain cells dying as a result of loss of oxygen from decreased blood flow to the brain

• Symptoms: sudden numbness or weakness or face, arm or leg (specifically on one side of body), sudden confusion, trouble speaking, or understanding, trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination, severe headache with no known cause
• Risk factors: diet and nutrition, physical activity, tobacco use and smoking, alcohol use, high blood pressure, AFib, high cholesterol, diabetes, circulation problems, age, gender, race and ethnicity, family history, previous stroke, FMD, PFO, TIA, risk for women greater than risk for men
• Prevention techniques: healthy diet, regular physical activity, quit smoking, low alcohol use, work to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels if they’re high
• Impacts of stroke: weakness/numbness/stiffness, paralysis, seizures & epilepsy, trouble sleeping, vision problems, spasticity, incontinence, hemiparesis, foot drop, dysphagia, fatigue, depression, PBA, aphasia, memory loss, vascular dementia

Heart attack: the death of heart muscle due to the decrease of blood supply usually caused by a blockage of a coronary artery

• Treatments: drugs to dissolve/prevent blood clots, angioplasty or intracoronary stenting to open obstructed artery, medications that dilate blood vessels to increase blood flow
• Symptoms: Pain/tightness in chest, jaw pain, toothache, headache, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, general epigastric discomfort, sweating, heartburn/indigestion, arm pain (more commonly in left arm but can be either arm), upper back pain, neck & shoulder pain in women, abdominal pain, general malaise, or no symptoms at all (nicknamed “silent killer”)
• Risk factors: high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, tobacco use, diabetes, males at greater risk than females, family history of heart disease.

Sources:

“Cognition.” National Stroke Association, www.stroke.org/we-can-help/survivors/stroke-recovery/post-stroke-conditions/cognition/.

“Heart Disease Prevention With Healthy Living Habits.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/healthy_living.htm.

“Heart Disease.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 22 Mar. 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20353118.

“Heart Disease.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 22 Mar. 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20353118.

“Heart Disease: Causes of a Heart Attack.” MedicineNet, www.medicinenet.com/heart_disease_pictures_slideshow_visual_guide/article.htm.

MacGill, Markus. “Hypertension: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, 21 Nov. 2018, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150109.php.

“Preventing Heart Disease.” The Nutrition Source, 30 Jan. 2019, www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/disease-prevention/cardiovascular-disease/preventing-cvd/.

“What Is Cardiovascular Disease?” Www.heart.org, www.heart.org/en/health-topics/consumer-healthcare/what-is-cardiovascular-disease.

The Environment and how it affects us

(Team 10 – Michael Oliva, Mia Spain, Nicole Reiter, Emily Thiry, Jenna Peterson)

The environment has a diverse number if ways in which it may affect our mental and even physical health. This can range from how the earth looks around us, the seasons, oncoming storms and the weather (or more specifically climate change). These factors can change a person’s mood, and depending on how the environment is around them, can either make them feel a sense of joy, or a wave of stress and sadness.

Climate Change

As our climate changes, there are different extremes that the temperature may reach, in some areas it may be extremely hot and humid, causing annoyances to some and dangerous conditions for those who work in outdoor environments. Combined with physical activity and other sources of heat in some places such as foundries steel mills or bakeries, there is hot material that already creates an excess amount of heat. On the other hand, there can also be extreme cold as was seen this year with some record low chilling temperatures. This of course can create difficulty getting to work and make some feel trapped inside a climate-controlled environment, as it is too dangerous to go outside for more than 5 minutes. Humans already spend most of their time -about 90% – indoors. Eliminating most of the time that people spend indoors is not healthy as the sun triggers the production of vitamin D which protects against inflammation lowers blood pressure and improves brain function. The extremely low temperatures ensure that people stay inside longer, then end up not getting enough sun. To some this can cause a problem called seasonal affective disorder, which has extreme impacts on your mood and how you feel.

Seasonal affective disorder/Changing seasons

Seasonal affective disorder (Also known as S.A.D) is a form of depression that is also known as winter depression. It is very common during the winter months where people don’t get that vitamin D from the sun that their bodies need. The symptoms of S.A.D will start as early as fall and improve as spring comes along. It is important to note that SAD is much more serious than that down feeling that some people experience during winter, which of course is just more proof to those who have felt that stale boredom that happens during colder months that the environment around us does change our moods. Again, the warmer summer months make people feel more positive. A study by Cornell university said

“roughly 2 million people around the globe found that positive messages became more frequent as days got longer, and negative messages went up as days became shorter. More conclusive results showed people having identifiable peaks of happiness early in the day and then trending toward negativity in the evening.”

It is known to scientists that the light helps regulate our time clocks and in turn gives better sleep. They said

“light serves as the strongest cue to regulate our internal clock, known as the circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm follows a 24-hour pattern and controls our sleep cycle, hormonal fluctuations and body temperature. The light receptors in our eyes have an easier time recognizing when it’s time to wake up and fall asleep; in other words, our circadian rhythm is better aligned with natural sunlight and darkness.”

In layman’s terms, summer helps us sleep better, improving our mood and out cognitive abilities. Knowing this, we should act accordingly and try and find different ways to get the vitamin D without the sun and find activities that will allow us to get outside more even in the wintertime. This could include snowmobiling, ice fishing, skiing, sledding, or simply building things out of snow. Vitamin D can come from supplements, milk, orange juice, or select varieties of fish (Make sure to buy local!). Taking care of your body during the more difficult months can make winters go by much quicker and easier.

Storms and pressure

Oncoming storms have a way of messing with people. For reasons aside their destructive nature, storms are accompanied with a change in barometric pressure, lower pressure that is, and it can affect people in a few different ways. The most common would be headaches that are associated with the pressure. Dr Matthew Fink, a neurologist in chief at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, found that “low barometric pressure can cause headaches or migraines by creating a pressure difference between the atmosphere and the air-filled sinuses. The problem is exacerbated when the sinuses are congested or blocked for any reason.” This is further confirmed by a study by the journal, internal medicine, that found a direct correlation with headaches and low barometric pressure. It was also found that this drop-in pressure also affects people with arthritis, making the severity of their joint pain worse the lower the pressure dropped. Lastly, people with diabetes will also have trouble controlling their blood pressure during cold fronts, which is brought upon by this decrease in pressure. Each person may have trouble during these fronts, but it helps to know the reason for their pain or complications. It can bring peace of mind and make the situation easier to deal with.

Visual effects of the environment

Overall there are many ways that the environment can affect your wellness, but so far, we’ve mostly focused on the bad that can happen. This doesn’t mean that nature is bad. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Nature does wonders for a person’s health and mental wellness, only there are the few exceptions as listed above. For starters, a walk in the woods can improve blood pressure, boost mental health and even reduce the risk of cancer. Psychologists found that it is almost essential for humans to spend time outside and enjoy nature. Various studies have been done on the more specific effects that nature has on people. One study from the university of Michigan found that people who took a walk in the forest have a better short-term memory by 20%. It is also found that people who spend more time outdoors have lower levels of cortisol, which is a hormone used to determine how stressed a person is. Also, on the list of wonderful things nature can do for a person are to eliminate fatigue, reduce inflammation, fight depression, and help people focus and make clear decisions.

There are a variety of good things that our environment can do for us, and unfortunately a few negative effects that can come from it as well. If we are aware of how the environment impacts us, we can use it to our advantage to live happier, healthier lives.

Sources

https://www.theactivetimes.com/healthy-living/15-health-benefits-sunshine

https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/seasonal-affective-disorder

https://www.paulaschoice.com/expert-advice/skincare-advice/basic-skin-care-tips/how-get-vitamin-d-without-sun.html

https://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/blogs/how-changes-barometric-pressure-affect-your-body

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2793341/

https://www.livescience.com/8639-change-seasons-affects-animals-humans.html

Introduction to industrial farming

What is Industrial Farming? Industrial farming is farms that carry livestock in a controlled environment usually held indoors. These farms play a dominant role in our food production process today in the U.S. Within these farms there are unethical actions taking place, such as abusive practices towards the animals. Most animals are bred to grow extremely fast which their bodies cannot support. The animals are bred for maximum meat, egg, and milk production as well as dealing with extreme confinement. These are just a few of the unethical practice within our industrial farming practice in the US. With a growing population, these industrial farms will never be able to suffice the growing demand for food, but what about our natural resources and our communities? The article, Factory Farming explains how industrial farming is depleting our natural resources, and affecting our health, “ The extreme amount of waste created by raising so many animals in one place pollutes our land, air, and water. Residents of rural communities surrounding factory farms report high incidents of illness, and their property values are often lowered by their proximity to industrial farms. To counteract the health challenges presented by overcrowded, stressful, unsanitary living conditions, antibiotics are used extensively on factory farms, which can create drug-resistant bacteria and put human health at risk.” Today more than 95% of animals are raised in factory farms according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. To further our discussion on Environmental Wellness: Industrial Farming and Cancers, we will look into the illnesses and the possible solutions for this growing problem in our Country.

Research on links to cancer/illness

Over the years, much research has been done to talk about the risk of cancers caused by today’s industrialized farming. First and foremost, it was found by Freeman, et al. that the risk for colon cancer increased significantly in farmers who raised poultry, such as chicken. Additionally, those who raised poultry were also at higher risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The risk of cancer extends further than just poultry farmers, those who care for sheep are at an increased risk for multiple myeloma. Farmers who devote much of their time working with their livestock, they are exposed to these animals’ bacteria and diseases, which often times is what contributes to the development of the above listed cancers. Another cause of cancers which have been found increasingly common in farmers are melanoma and lip cancer. Associated Press contributes this to be from the over abundance of UV sunlight exposure that farmers experience from their outdoor labors. Through this research, it has been clearly proven that it is incredibly dangerous for farmers to work in their workforce due to the increased risk of possible cancers. Eliminating livestock and poultry farms, by society converting to veganism can greatly decrease these cancer risks.

Many organizations have been researching the effects of industrial farming over the last 20 years. One of the largest areas of concern for public health is the increase of antibiotic resistant bacteria. According to Food and Water Watch, “80% of the antibiotics used in the U.S. are by agriculture”. As industrial farms continue to overuse antibiotics as a way to prevent and cure diseases caused by overcrowded farms, the bacteria involved are developing resistance to the antibiotics. In turn, the resistant bacteria are spreading to humans by animal food, contaminated waste, and even transferred directly from the animals to farmers. This is causing humans to suffer from serious and even deadly bacterial infections because the bacteria are not killed by antibiotics anymore. “Over two million Americans suffer from an antibiotic-resistant infection every year, and 23,000 people die,” says the Food and Water Watch. Lastly, even with the current research to prove the growing resistance of bacteria and its link to factory farming, the Food and Drug Administration has yet to require factory farms to stop the use of antibiotics for animals.

Solution

One solution to industrial farming is to encourage people to buy foods from local organic farms. By doing this they would not only be benefiting their community’s economic status, but they would also be preventing the addition of harmful substance in to the environment in several different ways. One of those ways is the burning of fewer fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions would decrease drastically by not having to transport the goods from place to place. Another reason we should encourage people to buy foods from organic farms is that they don’t use harmful pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones. They are not only harmful to the plants and animals they are being used on but to those consuming the goods and the animals around these farms.  Local organic farms often offer more nutrient foods and have happier and healthier livestock. This is because their livestock live more natural lives. They are free range, not over crowded, and fed the foods they should be fed. This is just one possible solution for industrial farming. An alternative solution exists and would require us to adapt to a different form of eating, such as consuming foods not coming from an animal like meats and dairy. A trending diet such as veganism is an animal-free diet that focuses on foods organically grown. A vegan diet may consist of foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, and beans. Offerings us many medical and ecological benefits. By consuming fewer animals we would be reducing the need for industrial farms that carry livestock. We would reduce our water consumption (needed to feed the animals), contamination of consumable water (contamination due to manure), prevent the prolonged exposure of the sun on farmers, and drastically reduce the risk of eating contaminated food that might affect our bodies way of fighting diseases (due to antibiotic-resistant livestock). This solution is intended as a way to alternatively supplement one’s diet and does not mean to adopt a fully vegan diet. But by consuming more organic plant-based foods we would contribute a smaller ecological footprint since a lot of meat consumption contributes to global warming. NBC reports in a study done by the EAT–Lancet Commission that “if everyone on the planet switched to a diet 50 percent lower in red meat and sugar than the average western diet, and much heavier in fruits and vegetables, about 11 million fewer people would die prematurely every year(Fox)”, leaving us to consider a greener diet.

Conclusion

Industrial farming plays a very large role in today’s farming industry and production process. Most individuals do not realize the lasting effects of industrial farming such as depleting our natural resources, and affecting our health. Along with that, we also do not realize the toll it takes on animals; they are underfed, abused, and live in horrible living conditions. These unethical actions and abusive practices need to be stopped or prevented. Over the years, much research has been done to talk about the risk of cancers and other diseases caused by today’s industrialized farming. Farmers are at high risk of contracting serious diseases such as colon cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, melanoma, and lip cancer. Being exposed to the bacteria from the animals they tend to can cause long term health effects. The bacterias are spreading to humans by animal food, contaminated waste, and even transferred directly from the animals to farmers. Although, researchers have found multiple solutions to industrial farming. This is where organic produce comes in; buying organic produce reduces the likelihood of being exposed to the unhealthy bacterias and antibiotics in animal products. Buying organic produce also reduce the amount of burning fossil fuels, and would also decrease the amount of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions. Local organic farm animals are also treated better and are raised in a healthy environment without overcrowding. Another great option recommended by researchers is the idea of going vegan or vegetarian. If the world consumed less animal products, there would be less demand for industrial farming and would reduce water consumption and contamination around the world. These are both great options to consider trying. We hope to have helped educate others more on this topic to help prevent issues like industrial farming and its link to deadly cancers and diseases.

Beane Freeman, L. E., DeRoos, A. J., Koutros, S., Blair, A., Ward, M. H., Alavanja, M.,

& Hoppin, J. A. (2012). Poultry and Livestock Exposure and Cancer Risk among

Farmers in the Agricultural Health Study. NCBI. doi:10.1007/s10552-012-9921-1

The associated press. (1992). U.S. sees more risk of cancer in farmer. New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/29/news/us-sees-more-risk-of-cancer-in-farm

Rs.html.

Fox, Maggie. “HEALTH NEWS Planetary diet: Save the planet and lives by eating less meat, more vegetables.” NBC News, NBC Universal, www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/here-s-what-eat-save-yourself-planet-less-meat-more-n959556. Accessed 26 Apr. 2019.

Respiratory diseases infect millions of people every year, whether the disease be Influenza, the Rhinovirus, or SARS. While there is not a clear consensus on how much environmental factors affect these diseases, there is evidence to show that the environment can have major impacts of how infective these diseases are.

Studies conducted have shown that temperature and humidity have a significant impact on transmission. While some of these factors come from humans changing their habits as seasonal differences occur, some come from changes in air temperature and humidity; for example, cold dry winter air impairs the ability of the lungs to clear themselves. This was shown in a 1960s study in which mice were infected with influenza. When the humidity increased, transmission of influenza decreased. In a similar study with guinea pigs, when the relative humidity was at 20%, transmission of influenza was the greatest, while at 80% relative humidity, there was little to no transmission of the disease. While these tests both show that higher relative humidity lowers transmission of influenza, viruses such as adenovirus and rhinovirus are more stable and are able to transmit at these higher humidity levels. This appears to be due to differences between relative humidity, compared to temperature and actual humidity, which is the actual amount of water vapor in the air.

The effect of rainfall on the transmission of disease appears to be mixed. A study on RSV in Indonesia found that the more days it rained, the higher the infection rate. Similarly, a study in Malaysia concluded that the more days it rained, the higher the number of infections. Contrarily, a study in Taiwan found no association was between rainfall and disease transmission. Many other studies concluded by agreeing with either of the two sides, leaving no clear consensus.

While there are not many studies, a study on mice concluded that an increase in ventilation lowered transmission of influenza.

Box 1

Modes of person-to-person transmission of respiratory viruses

Pica, Natalie, and Nicole M Bouvier. “Environmental Factors Affecting the Transmission of Respiratory Viruses.” Current Opinion in Virology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Feb. 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3311988/#BX1.

Table 1

Modes of transmission of several human respiratory tract viruses.

Pica, Natalie, and Nicole M Bouvier. “Environmental Factors Affecting the Transmission of Respiratory Viruses.” Current Opinion in Virology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Feb. 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3311988/#BX1

Citations(Jonah Kasdorf):

Connolly, M A. “Communicable Disease Control in Emergencies.” World Health Organization, 2005.

Pica, Natalie, and Nicole M Bouvier. “Environmental Factors Affecting the Transmission of Respiratory Viruses.” Current Opinion in Virology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Feb. 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3311988/#BX1

This portion of the blog is contributed by Makayla Clarke, Kendra Lepper, Megan Jessup, Isabella Jahn, Nathan Arkin, and Garret Poole.