Genomics and Health in the Developing World

Genomics and Health in the Developing World

Author: Dhavendra Kumar

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2012-05-11

Total Pages: 1569

ISBN-13: 019970547X

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Genomics and Health in the Developing World provides detailed and comprehensive coverage of population structures, human genomics, and genome variation--with particular emphasis on medical and health issues--in the emerging economies and countries of the developing world. With sections dedicated to fundamtals of genetics and genomics, epidemiology of human disease, biomarkers, comparative genomics, developments in translational genomic medicine, current and future health strategies related to genetic disease, and pertinent legislative and social factors, this volume highlights the importance of utilizing genetics/genomics knowledge to promote and achieve optimal health in the developing world. Grouped by geographic region, the chapters in this volume address: - Inherited disorders in the developing world, including a thorough look at genetic disorders in minority groups of every continent - The progress of diagnostic laboratory genetic testing, prenatal screening, and genetic counseling worldwide - Rising ethical and legal concerns of medical genetics in the developing world - Social, cultural, and religious issues related to genetic diseases across continents Both timely and vastly informative, this book is a unique and comprehensive resource for genetists, clinicians, and public health professionals interested in the social, ethical, economic, and legal matters associated with medical genetics in the developing world.


Communities in Action

Communities in Action

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2017-04-27

Total Pages: 583

ISBN-13: 0309452961

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In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.


Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life

Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2004-10-16

Total Pages: 753

ISBN-13: 0309092116

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In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.


The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century

The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2003-02-01

Total Pages: 536

ISBN-13: 0309133181

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The anthrax incidents following the 9/11 terrorist attacks put the spotlight on the nation's public health agencies, placing it under an unprecedented scrutiny that added new dimensions to the complex issues considered in this report. The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century reaffirms the vision of Healthy People 2010, and outlines a systems approach to assuring the nation's health in practice, research, and policy. This approach focuses on joining the unique resources and perspectives of diverse sectors and entities and challenges these groups to work in a concerted, strategic way to promote and protect the public's health. Focusing on diverse partnerships as the framework for public health, the book discusses: The need for a shift from an individual to a population-based approach in practice, research, policy, and community engagement. The status of the governmental public health infrastructure and what needs to be improved, including its interface with the health care delivery system. The roles nongovernment actors, such as academia, business, local communities and the media can play in creating a healthy nation. Providing an accessible analysis, this book will be important to public health policy-makers and practitioners, business and community leaders, health advocates, educators and journalists.


The Enculturated Gene

The Enculturated Gene

Author: Duana Fullwiley

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2011-11-07

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1400840414

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In the 1980s, a research team led by Parisian scientists identified several unique DNA sequences, or haplotypes, linked to sickle cell anemia in African populations. After casual observations of how patients managed this painful blood disorder, the researchers in question postulated that the Senegalese type was less severe. The Enculturated Gene traces how this genetic discourse has blotted from view the roles that Senegalese patients and doctors have played in making sickle cell "mild" in a social setting where public health priorities and economic austerity programs have forced people to improvise informal strategies of care. Duana Fullwiley shows how geneticists, who were fixated on population differences, never investigated the various modalities of self-care that people developed in this context of biomedical scarcity, and how local doctors, confronted with dire cuts in Senegal's health sector, wittingly accepted the genetic prognosis of better-than-expected health outcomes. Unlike most genetic determinisms that highlight the absoluteness of disease, DNA haplotypes for sickle cell in Senegal did the opposite. As Fullwiley demonstrates, they allowed the condition to remain officially invisible, never to materialize as a health priority. At the same time, scientists' attribution of a less severe form of Senegalese sickle cell to isolated DNA sequences closed off other explanations of this population's measured biological success. The Enculturated Gene reveals how the notion of an advantageous form of sickle cell in this part of West Africa has defined--and obscured--the nature of this illness in Senegal today. Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.


Genetic Disorders Among Arab Populations

Genetic Disorders Among Arab Populations

Author: Ahmad S. Teebi

Publisher:

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 538

ISBN-13: 9780195093056

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Few regions of the world have a more varied physiography or a richer ethnic, religious, social, and cultural mix than the Arab world. As a consequence, Arabs are genetically diverse despite their linguistic and religious cohesion. High but variable rates of inbreeding prevail in all Arab countries with numerous examples of isolates among them. These include some Bedouin groups, Nubians, Druze, Jews, and others. Arab populations have high frequencies of autosomal recessive disorders, homozygosity of autosomal dominant and X-linked traits, and a wealth of new syndromes and variants, the majority of which are autosomal recessive. Genetic disorders that cause major health problems include hemoglobinopathies, neurogenetic disorders, inherited metabolic diseases, and inborn error of morphogenesis. Because of their characteristically high prevalence, some of these disorders are considered markers for Arab populations. This book presents the unique profile of genetic disorders and variants in Arabs. In addition, it describes their unusual demographic pattern including fertility rates and other population dimensions, family structure, magnitude and effects of consanguineous marriages and indicators of health and disease. Genetic counseling and the distinctive cultural and religious attitudes towards various genetic issues are also presented. Disorders that have increased tribal occurrences or are limited to large kindreds, as well as small geographic or religious isolates, are highlighted to facilitate their recognition, study, and management.


Genetics and Evolution of Infectious Diseases

Genetics and Evolution of Infectious Diseases

Author: Michel Tibayrenc

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2024-07-19

Total Pages: 1002

ISBN-13: 0443288194

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Genetics and Evolution of Infectious Diseases, Third Edition discusses the evolving field of infectious diseases and their continued impact on the health of populations, especially in resource-limited areas of the world where they must confront the dual burden of death and disability due to infectious and chronic illnesses. Although substantial gains have been made in public health interventions for the treatment, prevention, and control of infectious diseases, in recent decades the world has witnessed the emergence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing antimicrobial resistance, and the emergence of many new bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and viral pathogens. Fully updated and revised, this new edition presents the consequences of such diseases, the evolution of infectious diseases, the genetics of host-pathogen relationship, and the control and prevention strategies that are, or can be, developed. This book offers valuable information to biomedical researchers, clinicians, public health practitioners, decisions-makers, and students and postgraduates studying infectious diseases, microbiology, medicine, and public health that is relevant to the control and prevention of neglected and emerging worldwide diseases. - Takes an integrated approach to infectious diseases - Provides the latest developments in the field of infectious diseases - Focuses on the contribution of evolutionary and genomic studies for the study and control of transmissible diseases - Includes updated and revised contributions from leading authorities, along with six new chapters


Concepts of Epidemiology

Concepts of Epidemiology

Author: Raj S. Bhopal

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 481

ISBN-13: 0198739680

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First edition published in 2002. Second edition published in 2008.


Genes, Behavior, and the Social Environment

Genes, Behavior, and the Social Environment

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2006-11-07

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 0309133815

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Over the past century, we have made great strides in reducing rates of disease and enhancing people's general health. Public health measures such as sanitation, improved hygiene, and vaccines; reduced hazards in the workplace; new drugs and clinical procedures; and, more recently, a growing understanding of the human genome have each played a role in extending the duration and raising the quality of human life. But research conducted over the past few decades shows us that this progress, much of which was based on investigating one causative factor at a time—often, through a single discipline or by a narrow range of practitioners—can only go so far. Genes, Behavior, and the Social Environment examines a number of well-described gene-environment interactions, reviews the state of the science in researching such interactions, and recommends priorities not only for research itself but also for its workforce, resource, and infrastructural needs.