Disability in America presents a five-prong strategy for reducing the incidence and prevalence of disability as well as its personal, social, and economic consequences. Although the preferred goal is to avoid potentially disabling conditions, the authoring committee focuses on the need to prevent or reverse the progression that leads to disability and reduced quality of life in persons with potentially disabling conditions.
Calling for a coherent national program to focus on prevention, the committee sets forth specific recommendations for federal agencies, state and local programs, and the private sector. This comprehensive agenda addresses the need for improved methods for collecting disability data, specific research questions, directions for university training, reform in insurance coverage, prenatal care, vocational training, and a host of other arenas for action.

People are increasingly concerned about potential environmental health hazards and often ask their physicians questions such as: "Is the tap water safe to drink?" "Is it safe to live near power lines?" Unfortunately, physicians often lack the information and training related to environmental health risks needed to answer such questions. This book discusses six competency based learning objectives for all medical school students, discusses the relevance of environmental health to specific courses and clerkships, and demonstrates how to integrate environmental health into the curriculum through published case studies, some of which are included in one of the book's three appendices. Also included is a guide on where to obtain additional information for treatment, referral, and follow-up for diseases with possible environmental and/or occupational origins. Table of Contents Front Matter Executive Summary 1 Introduction 2 Curriculum Content 3 Implementation Strategies 4 Changing Medical Education 5 Concluding Remarks References Appendixes A: Taking an Exposure History B: Medical School Courses and Clerkships: Access Points for Integrating Environmental Medicine C: Case Studies in Environmental Medicine Case Study 1: Arsenic Toxicity Case Study 2: Seasonal Arsenic Exposure from Burning Chromium-Copper-Arsenate-Treated Wood Case Study 3: Asbestos Toxicity Case Study 4: Benzene Toxicity Case Study 5: Beryllium Toxicity Case Study 6: Cadmium Toxicity Case Study 7: Fetal Death Due to Nonlethal Maternal Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Case Study 8: Carbon Tetrachloride Toxicity Case Study 9: Chlordane Toxicity Case Study 10: Chronic Reactive Airway Disease Following Acute Chlorine Gas Exposure in an Asymptomatic Atopic Patient Case Study 11: Chromium Toxicity Case Study 12: Cyanide Toxicity Case Study 13: Dioxin Toxicity Case Study 14: Ethylene/Propylene Glycol Toxicity Case Study 15: Formalin Asthma in Hospital Staff Case Study 16: Gasoline Toxicity Case Study 17: Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome: A Clinical Description of 17 Patients with a Newly Recognized Disease Case Study 18: Lead Poisoning from Mobilization of Bone Stores During Thyrotoxicosis Case Study 19: Lead Toxicity Case Study 20: Legionaires' Disease: Description of an Epidemic of Pneumonia Case Study 21: Mercury in House Paint as a Cause of Acrodynia: Effect of Therapy with N-Acetyl-D, L-Penixillamine Case Study 22: Mercury Toxicity Case Study 23: Methanol Toxicity Case Study 24: Methylene Chloride Toxicity Case Study 25: Paint Remover Hazard Case Study 26: Fatal Outcome of Methemoglobinemia in an Infant Case Study 27: Nitrate/Nitrite Toxicity Case Study 28: An Outbreak of Nitrogen Dioxide-Induced Respiratory Illness Among Ice Hockey Players Case Study 29: Pentachlorophenol Toxicity Case Study 30: Aldicarb Poisoning: A Case Report with Prolonged Cholinesterase Inhibition and Improvement After Pralidoxime Therapy Case Study 31: Cholinesterase-Inhibiting Pesticide Toxicity Case Study 32: Infertility in Male Pesticide Workers Case Study 33: Pesticide Food Poisoning from Contaminated Watermelons in California, 1985 Case Study 34: Poisoning of an Urban Family Due to Misapplication of Household Organophosphate and Carbamate Pesticides Case Study 35: Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Toxicity Case Study 36: Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Toxicity Case Study 37: Ionizing Radiation Case Study 38: Radon Toxicity Case Study 39: Residential Radon Exposure and Lung Cancer in Sweden Case Study 40: Community Oubreaks of Asthma Associated with Inhalation of Soybean Dust Case Study 41: Tetrachloroethylene Toxicity Case Study 42: Toluene Toxicity Case Study 43: Occupational Asthma Due to Toluene Diisocyanate Among Velcro-like Tape Manufacturers Case Study 44: 1,1,1-Trichloroethane Case Study 45: Trimethyltin Encephalopathy Case Study 46: Trichloroethylene Toxicity Case Study 47: Vinyl Chloride Toxicity Case Study 48: Work-Related Disorders of the Neck and Upper Extremity Case Study 49: Contact Dermatitis in Surgeons from Methylmethacrylate Bone Cement Case Study 50: Skin Lesions and Environmental Exposures: Rash Decisions Case Study 51: Acoustic Trauma Caused by the Telephone: A Report of Two Cases Case Study 52: Behavioral and Audiologic Manifestations of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Case Study 53: Reproductive and Developmental Hazards Case Study 54: Childhood Asthma and Indoor Enviromental Risk Factors Case Study 55: Populations at Risk From Particulate Air Pollution - United States, 1992 D: Resources: Agencies, Organizations, Services, REferences, and Tables of Environmental Health Hazards E: Committee and Staff Biographies

More than 50 million Americans, one out of five, suffer from hay fever, asthma, and other allergic diseases. Many of these conditions are caused by exposure to allergens in indoor environments such as the house, work, and school?where we spend as much as 98 percent of our time. Developed by medical, public health, and engineering professionals working together, this unique volume summarizes what is known about indoor allergens, how they affect human health, the magnitude of their effect on various populations, and how they can be controlled. The book addresses controversies, recommends research directions, and suggests how to assist and educate allergy patients, as well as professionals. Indoor Allergens presents a wealth of information about common indoor allergens and their varying effects, from significant hay fever to life-threatening asthma. The volume discusses sources of allergens, from fungi and dust mites to allergenic chemicals, plants, and animals, and examines practical measures for their control. Indoor Allergens discusses how the human airway and immune system respond to inhaled allergens and assesses patient testing methods, covering the importance of the patient's medical history and outlining procedures and approaches to interpretation for skin tests, in vitro diagnostic tests, and tests of patients' pulmonary function. This comprehensive and practical volume will be important to allergists and other health care providers; public health professionals; specialists in building design, construction, and maintenance; faculty and students in public health; and interested allergy patients. Table of Contents Front Matter Executive Summary 1 Introduction 2 Magnitude and Dimensions of Sensitization and Disease Caused by Indoor Allergens 3 Agents, Sources, Source Controls, and Diseases 4 Mechanisms of Immune Function 5 Medical Testing Methods 6 Assessing Exposure and Risk 7 Engineering Control Strategies 8 The Role of Education References Acronyms Glossary Committee and Staff Biographies Index

The most recent high-profile advocate for Americans with disabilities, actor Christopher Reeve, has highlighted for the public the economic and social costs of disability and the importance of rehabilitation. Enabling America is a major analysis of the field of rehabilitation science and engineering. The book explains how to achieve recognition for this evolving field of study, how to set priorities, and how to improve the organization and administration of the numerous federal research programs in this area. The committee introduces the "enabling-disability process" model, which enhances the concepts of disability and rehabilitation, and reviews what is known and what research priorities are emerging in the areas of: Pathology and impairment, including differences between children and adults. Functional limitations?in a person's ability to eat or walk, for example. Disability as the interaction between a person's pathologies, impairments, and functional limitations and the surrounding physical and social environments. This landmark volume will be of special interest to anyone involved in rehabilitation science and engineering: federal policymakers, rehabilitation practitioners and administrators, researchers, and advocates for persons with disabilities. Table of Contents FRONT MATTER EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 INTRODUCTION 2 MAGNITUDE AND COST OF DISABILITY IN AMERICA 3 MODELS OF DISABILITY AND REHABILITATION 4 PATHOLOGY AND IMPAIRMENT RESEARCH 5 FUNCTIONAL LIMITATIONS RESEARCH IN REHABILITATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 6 DISABILITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT 7 RESEARCH ON THE ORGANIZATION, FINANCING, AND DELIVERY OF HEALTH SERVICES 8 TRANSLATING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS 9 EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN REHABILITATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 10 ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF FEDERAL RESEARCH PROGRAMS 11 OVERARCHING RECOMMENDATIONS AND PRIORITIES REFERENCES A Data Collection and Analysis B Summary of Information Sources on Disability and Rehabilitation Research C Taxonomy D Committee and Staff Biographies INDEX