2009年3月14日土曜日
2009年3月3日火曜日
Environmental Medicine
It is a bit hard to explain what the Environmental Medicine is. Of course it is a discipline of medicine that deals with pathologic environmental agents to human. Pathologic agents will be systematically devided into physical, chemical, biological and social environmental factors. The most severe effect of these agents or factors are usually observed in workplaces where these factors are used for industrial production purposes. So it is often referred to Occupational and Environmental Medicine. I am occupational physician, too.
Asbestos, one of the environmental carcinogen that causes lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer of pleura, is an example of bad occupational environment causing public nuisance. An asbestos-containing water pipe producing factory had spread life threatening agent in the midst of a big city named Amagasaki and nearly 100 citizens who lived near the factory suffered mesothelioma. This may have been prevented if the workplace hazard had been properly controlled.
Physicians and researchers in Environmental Medicine need to cover clinical medicine and toxicology regarding occupational and environmental hazard, principle of epidemiology and health policy regarding this issue. We need to see patients, workplaces, and communities. We need to act as clinicians and at the same time as public health practitioners. We need to see individuals and group of people. We need to do both.
As a clinician one has to see patients, diagnose, and treat. And as a public health practitioner, one has to seek the causative agent, prevent the same disease, and control the diseases. We are performing such tasks.
Asbestos, one of the environmental carcinogen that causes lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer of pleura, is an example of bad occupational environment causing public nuisance. An asbestos-containing water pipe producing factory had spread life threatening agent in the midst of a big city named Amagasaki and nearly 100 citizens who lived near the factory suffered mesothelioma. This may have been prevented if the workplace hazard had been properly controlled.
Physicians and researchers in Environmental Medicine need to cover clinical medicine and toxicology regarding occupational and environmental hazard, principle of epidemiology and health policy regarding this issue. We need to see patients, workplaces, and communities. We need to act as clinicians and at the same time as public health practitioners. We need to see individuals and group of people. We need to do both.
As a clinician one has to see patients, diagnose, and treat. And as a public health practitioner, one has to seek the causative agent, prevent the same disease, and control the diseases. We are performing such tasks.
登録:
投稿 (Atom)
