What do the following have in common: the promise of Botox as the key to everlasting youthful looks; E. coli O157 hamburger disease; a mysterious illness which killed 35 heroin users in 2000; and the assassination by poisoned umbrella-tip of a Bulgarian dissident in the 1970s? The answer is that all of these are caused by toxins, the powerful biological poisons released by bacteria and some plants.
In Toxin, Alistair Lax reveals the panoply of ways in which bacterial toxins overcome the defenses of our cells. He explains how they work, how they are so successful in causing major diseases, the terrible human impact they have had, and how apparently "new" diseases arise from them. He also discusses how we can combat toxins, and how we can harness their actions for beneficial purposes. Enlivened by the very human story of the persistence, rivalries, and insights from which modern microbiology grew, Toxin is the first widely accessible account of this exciting and important topic.

What is artificial intelligence (AI)? How does AI affect death matters and the digital beyond? How are death and dying handled in our digital age? AI for Dying and Death covers a broad range of literature, research and challenges around this topic. It explores ethical memorisation, digital legacies and bereavement, post death avatars and AI and the digital beyond. It also analyzes religious perspectives on AI for death and dying, and planning for death in a digital age.

1) The first and only textbook solely about public health entomology, mapping onto new Certificate in Public Health Entomology courses in the U.S. Half the price of the nearest competitors, with the subject of Public Health Entomology rapidly becoming a hot topic in public health, this should be adopted as the "go-to" text for public health entomology. 2) Discusses the rationale for having public health entomology programs in state and federal health agencies. 3) Shows how to set up a public health program from scratch. 4) Compares and contrasts specific duties of a public health entomologist (and what are NOT the duties). 5) Includes a section about the primary public health arthropod vectors, their biology, distribution, disease potential, and control.

Although drinking, smoking and obesity have attracted social and moral condemnation to varying degrees for more than two hundred years, over the past few decades they have come under intense attack from the field of public health as an 'unholy trinity' of lifestyle behaviours with apparently devastating medical, social and economic consequences. Indeed, we appear to be in the midst of an important historical moment in which policies and practices that would have been unthinkable a decade ago (e.g., outdoor smoking bans, incarcerating pregnant women for drinking alcohol, and prohibiting restaurants from serving food to fat people), have become acceptable responses to the 'risks' that alcohol, tobacco and obesity are perceived to pose. Hailing from Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the USA, and drawing on examples from all four countries, contributors interrogate the ways in which alcohol, tobacco and fat have come to be constructed as 'problems' requiring intervention and expose the social, cultural and political roots of the current public health obsession with lifestyle. No prior collection has set out to provide an in-depth examination of alcohol, tobacco and obesity through the comparative approach taken in this volume. This book therefore represents an invaluable and timely contribution to critical studies of public health, health inequities, health policy, and the sociology of risk more broadly.

As urban populations grow, new health problems evolve in tandem with longstanding issues. And as a welter of social, environmental, and access factors further complicate the picture, workable solutions require increasingly sophisticated understanding and innovative methods-generally beyond the scope of one professional field. Converging Disciplines introduces the concept of transdisciplinary research as a multidimensional, research-to-practice approach to urban health issues, not only bringing researchers together but also linking stakeholders, from practitioners to policymakers to community members. This immediately accessible volume differentiates transdisciplinary research from multi- and interdisciplinary strategies, as well as from popular community-based models, and brings a uniquely North American set of perspectives to the concept. Chapter authors explore the theory behind the methods as well as their application in meeting chronic problems (e.g., domestic violence, substance abuse) and working with vulnerable populations (e.g., homeless individuals, refugees) in ways that are ecologically based, ethically sound, and eminently practical. Key areas of coverage: Benefits and challenges of transdisciplinary research in the urban health setting. Transdisciplinary research process, including methodologies, collaboration, and information sharing. Detailed case examples of transdisciplinary research used in addressing health issues among marginalized urban populations. An overview of training programs in the U.S. and Canada. The view from funding agencies. Preparing the university, researchers, and the job market for a transdisciplinary future researchers and graduate students in urban and public health will find inspiring reading in Converging Disciplines: a bold framework for transforming their fields, and the tools for meeting the new generation of urban health challenges.

The lack of significant improvement in people s health status and other mounting health challenges in China raise a puzzling question about the country s internal transition: why did the reform-induced dynamics produce an economic miracle, but fail to reproduce the success Mao had achieved in the health sector? This book examines the political and policy dynamics of health governance in post-Mao China. It explores the political-institutional roots of the public health and health care challenges and the evolution of the leaders policy response in contemporary China. It argues that reform-induced institutional dynamics, when interacting with Maoist health policy structure in an authoritarian setting, have not only contributed to the rising health challenges in contemporary China, but also shaped the patterns and outcomes of China s health system transition. The study of China s health governance will further our understanding of the evolving political system in China and the complexities of China s rise. As the world economy and international security are increasingly vulnerable to major disease outbreaks in China, it also sheds critical light on China s role in global health governance.

-Accessible introduction to the full spectrum of diseases and disasters for students of politics, human security studies and development studies -Case studies include Covid-19, Haiti Earthquake 2010, Hurricane Maria, Typhoon Haiyan, Second Congo War; Yemen Civil War; Tajikistan Civil War, AIDS in Africa, Malaria, SARS, and Ebola -Timely new textbook to address issues arising from the Covid-19 global pandemic

The last twenty years have witnessed an important movement in the aspirations of public policy beyond meeting merely material goals towards a range of outcomes captured through the use of the term 'wellbeing'. Nonetheless, the concept of wellbeing is itself ill-defined, a term used in multiple different contexts with different meanings and policy implications. Bringing together a range of perspectives, this volume examines the intersections of wellbeing and place, including immediate applied policy concerns as well as more critical academic engagements. . Conceptualisations of place, context and settings have come under critical examination, and more nuanced and varied understandings are drawn out from both academic and policy-related research. Whilst quantitative and some policy approaches treat place as a static backdrop or context, others explore the interrelationships of emotional, social, cultural and experiential meanings that are both shape place and are shaped in place. Similarly, wellbeing may be understood as a relatively stable and measurable entity or as a more situation-dependent and relational effect. The book is structured into two sections: essays that explore the dynamics that determine wellbeing in relation to place and essays that explore contested understandings of wellbeing both empirically and theoretically.

For decades, Life and Loss has been the book clinicians have relied on for a full and nuanced presentation of the many issues with which grieving children grapple, as well as an honest exploration of the interrelationship between unresolved grief, educational success, and responsible citizenry. This classic edition, which includes a new preface from the author, brings this exploration firmly into the twenty-first century and makes a convincing case that children's grief is no longer restricted only to loss-identified children. Children's grief is now endemic; it is global. Life and Loss is not just the book mental health professionals need to understand grief in the twenty-first century-it's the book they need to work with grief in a practical and constructive way.

Introduces innovative state-of-the-art methods for delineation of hospital service areas Studies the temporal trend of intra-urban commuting patterns based on the most recent data Explains the best practices and one-stop solution for urban and regional planning, and public health Includes free ready-to-download GIS-based simulation tools and sample data and an explanation of optimization and statistical techniques for measuring commutes Presents a methodology that can be easily applicable to other studies in urban planning

The Handbook of Religion and Health has become the seminal research text on religion, spirituality, and health, outlining a rational argument for the connection between religion and health. The Second Edition completely revises and updates the first edition. Its authors are physicians: a psychiatrist and geriatrician, a primary care physician, and a professor of nursing and specialist in mental health nursing. The Second Edition surveys the historical connections between religion and health and grapples with the distinction between the terms ''religion'' and ''spirituality'' in research and clinical practice. It reviews research on religion and mental health, as well as extensive research literature on the mind-body relationship, and develops a model to explain how religious involvement may impact physical health through the mind-body mechanisms. It also explores the direct relationships between religion and physical health, covering such topics as immune and endocrine function, heart disease, hypertension and stroke, neurological disorders, cancer, and infectious diseases; and examines the consequences of illness including chronic pain, disability, and quality of life. Finally, the Handbook reviews research methods and addresses applications to clinical practice. Theological perspectives are interwoven throughout the chapters. The Handbook is the most insightful and authoritative resource available to anyone who wants to understand the relationship between religion and health. Features Provides up-to-date, detailed background on religion and health care Gives guidance on conducting research on religion and health Includes an appendix that provides the latest and best published research

Healthy Aging in Sociocultural Context examines two emerging trends facing countries throughout the world: population aging and population diversity. It makes a unique contribution to our understanding of these timely issues by examining their implications for healthy aging, a topic of increasing importance to policy-makers, planners, researchers, families, and individuals of all ages. The book focuses on three countries that provide important examples of these emerging global trends - Japan, Sweden, and the United States. Japan and Sweden are at the forefront in terms of healthy life expectancies, while the United States represents a country with considerable diversity. Examining these three countries together provides a unique opportunity to address questions such as the following: How can we understand differences in healthy life expectancy among different countries? What role might diversity play? And how might these effects change as geographic mobility increases diversity, even among societies that historically have been relatively homogeneous?

Social work educators can play an important part in ensuring that the promotion of health and well-being is firmly on the social work agenda for service users, as well as for students and educators. Nevertheless, this has not been a priority within social work education and presents a challenge which requires some re-thinking in terms of curriculum content, pedagogy, and how social workers respond to social problems. Furthermore, if the promotion of health and well-being is not considered a priority for social workers, this raises important questions about the role and relevance of social work in health, and thus poses challenges to social work education, both now and in the future. This book contains contributions from social work educators from Australia, America, Canada, New Zealand and the UK. They reflect on how best to prepare students to put health and well-being to the forefront of practice, drawing on research on quality of life, subjective well-being, student well-being, community participation and social connectedness, religion and spirituality, mindful practices, trauma and health inequalities. This book is an extended version of a special issue of Social Work Education.

Established indicators of development suggest that, as a group, African countries lag behind their counterparts in other regions with respect to public health. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the public health problems of these countries are rooted in preventable causes associated with hygiene and sanitation. It is customary to attribute the problems that ail Africa to the lack of financial resources. This book deviates from convention by suggesting non-financial factors as the source of sanitation problems on the continent, and argues the need to re-connect urban planning to public health. These two professions are consanguine relatives and emerged to combat the negative externalities of the industrial revolution and concomitant urbanization. However, with the passage of time, the professions drifted apart. Today, more than ever, there is a need for the two to be re-connected. This need is rooted in the increasing complexity of urban problems whose resolution requires interdisciplinary initiatives. To this end, there is hardly any question that urban public health initiatives are unlikely to succeed without the collaboration of both public health and urban planning experts. The book recognizes this truism, and stands as the first major academic work to demonstrate the inextricably intertwined nature of urban planning and urban public health in Africa.

Volume 4 considers the importance of health behavior research in practical settings. Particularly notable are treatments of the "narrative approach," the taxonomy of health behavior, and the organization of health behavior knowledge. Each volume features extensive supplementary and integrative material prepared by the editor, the detailed index to the entire four-volume set, and a glossary of health behavior terminology.

Community health is an emerging and growing discipline of public health and it focuses on the physical, social, and mental well-being of the people of specific districts. This interdisciplinary field brings together aspects of health care, economics, environment, and people interaction. This handbook is a comprehensive reference on public health for higher education students, scholars, practitioners, and policymakers of health care. There are five key thematic sections in the book: perspectives in public health; community health in practise; planning, built, and social environment and community health; digital and mobile health; and, towards sustainable health in the community. Each theme explores the leading research and trends. This book aims to help achieve the shared goal of healthier communities and quality of life for the residents. This collaborative work should be a very useful handbook to health professionals and government bodies in the planning of initiatives to improve population health, prevent chronic diseases, control infectious diseases and outbreaks, and prepare for natural disasters. This handbook integrates research and practise of public health in the community.

This book focuses on using plants in spatial design to reduce the infectiousness of viruses in different working and living spaces. It presents strategies for interior and exterior green designs with plants that are likely effective for flu virus tolerance and reduction of infectiousness. The designs are appealing for interaction and healing, as well as focusing on the reduction and removal of virus infectiousness. The Famulari Theory requires examining plants that are likely effective for virus accumulation based on their leaves with stomata, trichomes, and dense leaf growth, and transpiration rate accumulation of airborne viruses. In addition, this research requires reviewing the quantity and specific types of plants (as well as electronic sources, such as humidifiers and water features) needed to produce effective humidity for plants to decrease the infectiousness or transmission of viruses; the effective distance of people to plants; and light, water, soil, and temperature needs. The book addresses the various greening practices that can be applied to sites to reduce the infectiousness of the airborne flu virus - especially in areas such as train stations, restaurants, rooftops, courtyards, office buildings and work spaces/conference rooms, and the home office - and the ways that businesses owners and residents can integrate these practices to reduce the air contaminants with a green solution. Designing green spaces that accumulate, reduce, and remove the infectiousness of viruses involves exploring multiple approaches from different directions to achieve the most effective and ideal design. The six basic approaches include 1. Temperature minimum of 70 Degrees Fahrenheit 2. Plants with multiple stomata on the leaf surfaces 3. Plants with multiple clumps of dense leaves with a high transpiration rate 4. Plants with rough leaf surfaces or with trichomes (plant hairs) on the leaf 5. Relative humidity (RH) minimum of 43% or higher 6. Air circulation to direct air with the airborne flu virus to the planted areas Stevie Famulari brings unique insights and inspires the development of green understanding and design solution plans with both short-term and long-term approaches. Illustrations of greening applied to locations help you understand your own design solutions to create them in your site. This book breaks down the misconceptions of the complexity of sustainability and green practices and provides illustrations and site-appropriate green solutions that you can incorporate into your lifestyle for a healthier site. Greening is a lifestyle change, and this guide lets you know how easy it is to transition to the green side to improve your health.

The combined effect of chewing tobacco (areca quid chewing) alcohol drinking and smoking greatly increase the risk of Oral Precancerous Disorders (like Leukoplakia, Erythroplakia, Oral submucous fibrosis and Verrucous lesions) in oral cavity. In developing countries of South East Asia, Indian people develop more oral precancerous disorders like Leukoplakia, Erythroplakia, Oral submucous fibrosis and Verrucous lesions compare to many other developed countries. It is estimated that in India 75% of cancers of oral cavity are attributable to tobacco chewing, smoking and alcohol drinking. So the purpose of this book is to present the correlations of these premalignant disorders microscopically with in tobacco users and alcohol drinkers.

Over the last century public health efforts, such as immunization, safer food practices, public health education and promotion, improved sanitation, and water purification have been very successful in eradicating and controlling a host of diseases. The result has been a dramatic improvement in health and life expectancy. However, the impact that mental illnesses have on individuals and society as a whole has largely been overlooked by the discipline.
This pioneering volume examines the evidence-base for incorporating mental health into the public health agenda by linking the available research on population mental health with public mental health policy and practice. Issues covered in the book include the influence of health and mental health policies on the care and well-being of individuals with mental illness, the interconnectedness of physical and mental disorders, the obstacles to adopting a public health orientation to mental health/mental illness, and the potential application of public health models of intervention.
Setting out a unique and innovative model for integrated public mental health care, Population Mental Health identifies the tools and strategies of public health practice surveillance and screening, early identification, preventive interventions, health promotion and community action and their application to twenty-first century public mental health policy and practice.

This edited volume of original chapters brings together researchers from around the world who are exploring the facets of health care organization and delivery that are sometimes marginal to mainstream patient safety theories and methodologies but offer important insights into the socio-cultural and organizational context of patient safety. By examining these critical insights or perspectives and drawing upon theories and methodologies often neglected by mainstream safety researchers, this collection shows we can learn more about not only the barriers and drivers to implementing patient safety programmes, but also about the more fundamental issues that shape notions of safety, alternate strategies for enhancing safety, and the wider implications of the safety agenda on the future of health care delivery. In so doing, A Socio-cultural Perspective on Patient Safety challenges the taken-for-granted assumptions around fundamental philosophical and political issues upon which mainstream orthodoxy relies. The book draws upon a range of theoretical and empirical approaches from across the social sciences to investigate and question the patient safety movement. Each chapter takes as its focus and question a particular aspect of the patient safety reforms, from its policy context and theoretical foundations to its practical application and manifestation in clinical practice, whilst also considering the wider implications for the organization and delivery of health care services. Accordingly, the chapters each draw upon a distinct theoretical or methodological approach to critically explore specific dimensions of the patient safety agenda. Taken as a whole, the collection advances a strong, coherent argument that is much needed to counter some of the uncritical assumptions that need to be described and analyzed if patient safety is indeed to be achieved.

First published in 1986, Handicapping Conditions in Children provides an accessible overview of a wide range of handicapping conditions and their remediation, and gives a balanced perspective on the medical, educational and social issues. It will therefore be of value to a wide audience in these professions as well as to students and parents. Each chapter deals with one specific area but is presented to cover: description of the condition and its aetiology; its prevalence in the population and relatives; developmental characteristics; special problems and needs; educational and social provision; the potential for the future; and further reading lists. The book does not include every possible condition, but concentrates on those that are most frequent or problematic. This book is a reissue originally published in 1986. The language used is a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this republication

'An essential guide' (Dr Mark Hyman, author of Young Forever) to navigating life with the cognitive and mental health impairments that often accompany Long Covid. Early in the Covid-19 pandemic, the shocking mortality figures obscured the fact that death is not the only adverse outcome associated with the virus. Today, as many as 30 to 50 percent of Covid-19 survivors still experience symptoms long after their acute illness has passed, with problems especially prominent in the areas of cognitive and mental health. For long haulers, this struggle with Long Covid has irrevocably changed their lives. Many have lost their ability to work, attend school, or look after their children. They often feel misunderstood and dismissed by others. Their once-full lives are now filled only with doctors' appointments that seem more and more futile. In Clearing the Fog, neuropsychologist Dr. James C. Jackson offers people suffering from Long Covid and their families a roadmap to help them manage their 'new normal'. Focussing on cognitive impairment and mental health issues, he shows readers: - the ways they can manifest and disrupt - suggestions for how and when to seek professional evaluations - science-based treatment options and strategies - information on navigating health care systems and disability insurance - validation and hope as patients wrestle with their new diagnosis In addition, Dr Jackson shares his own experience with chronic illness , relating to long haulers with vulnerability and compassion. Through moving stories, as well as hands-on guidance, Clearing the Fog will help long haulers understand their current situation while offering multiple ways to address it, make sense of it, and move through it with the goal of thriving instead of merely surviving.

Volume 3 relates the demography of health behavior to developmental and diversity issues. Unique discussions of the health behaviors of gay males, lesbians, persons with HIV, and caregivers themselves are included. Each volume features extensive supplementary and integrative matrial prepared by the editor, the detailed index to the entire four-volume set, and a glossary of health behavior terminology.

EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. Though a globally shared experience, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected societies across the world in radically different ways. This book examines the unique implications of the pandemic in the Global South. With international contributors from a variety of disciplines including health, economics and geography, the book investigates the pandemic's effects on development, medicine, gender (in)equality and human rights, among other issues. Its analysis illuminates further subsequent crises of interconnection, a pervasive health provision crisis and a resulting rise in socioeconomic inequality. The book's assessment offers an urgent discourse on the ways in which the impact of COVID-19 can be mitigated in some of the most challenging socioeconomic contexts in the world.

In this unique book, international trainer and consultant Lisa Cherry invites professionals from education, social work and healthcare to engage in conversations on a range of pertinent topics and issues affecting children and young people today. Divided into three main parts, which introduce attachment, adversity and trauma, each discussion places an emphasis on emotion and the understanding that we have as humans for compassion, empathy and connection. By encouraging collaboration between sectors and exploring a range of intersecting themes, the conversations take the reader on a winding journey to broaden their depth of thinking, reflect on their practice and to consider the central message: that we can bring about social change, one interaction at a time. This book is a call to action and an opportunity to look around and decide what kind of service we want to provide, what kind of community we want to live in and what sort of legacy we want to leave. At a time of ever-present social and political challenges, this book will stimulate conversations on current practice and professional development for the future and is a must-read for everyone working with children and young people.