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home:pathogenesis:epidemiology [08.22.2017] – [Read more] sallieqhome:pathogenesis:epidemiology [09.01.2019] – [Use of other immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive agents] sallieq
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   * **malaria among Mexicans** –  Venkataramani [[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1679164|studied]] the effect of malaria on IQ in a sample of Mexicans. Exposure during the birth year to malaria eradication was associated with increases in IQ. The author suggests that this may be one explanation for the substantial increase in average scores on intelligence tests all over the world (known as the Flynn effect) and that this may be an important explanation for the link between national malaria burden and economic development.   * **malaria among Mexicans** –  Venkataramani [[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1679164|studied]] the effect of malaria on IQ in a sample of Mexicans. Exposure during the birth year to malaria eradication was associated with increases in IQ. The author suggests that this may be one explanation for the substantial increase in average scores on intelligence tests all over the world (known as the Flynn effect) and that this may be an important explanation for the link between national malaria burden and economic development.
   * **parasite prevalence and worldwide distribution of IQ** – Eppig //et al.// performed a broad analysis of the relationship between average intelligence and parasite load. Using three measures of average national intelligence quotient (IQ), the team found a robust worldwide (as well as within five of six world regions) inverse correlation between intelligence and infectious burden. According to their analysis, infectious disease remains the most powerful predictor of average national IQ when temperature, distance from Africa, gross domestic product per capita and several measures of education are controlled for. The team theorizes, "From an energetics standpoint, a developing human will have difficulty building a brain and fighting off infectious diseases at the same time, as both are very metabolically costly tasks" and that "the Flynn effect may be caused in part by the decrease in the intensity of infectious diseases as nations develop."(({{pubmed>long:20591860}}))   * **parasite prevalence and worldwide distribution of IQ** – Eppig //et al.// performed a broad analysis of the relationship between average intelligence and parasite load. Using three measures of average national intelligence quotient (IQ), the team found a robust worldwide (as well as within five of six world regions) inverse correlation between intelligence and infectious burden. According to their analysis, infectious disease remains the most powerful predictor of average national IQ when temperature, distance from Africa, gross domestic product per capita and several measures of education are controlled for. The team theorizes, "From an energetics standpoint, a developing human will have difficulty building a brain and fighting off infectious diseases at the same time, as both are very metabolically costly tasks" and that "the Flynn effect may be caused in part by the decrease in the intensity of infectious diseases as nations develop."(({{pubmed>long:20591860}}))
-  * **pathogen prevalence may influence social conformity and choice of a political system** – As described in [[http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028133.300-genes-germs-and-the-origins-of-politics.html|New Scientist]], Murray and Schaller examined four sets of data, by country including: results from behavioral conformity experiments, percentage of the population who prioritize obedience, prevalence of left-handedness, and pathogen prevalence.(({{pubmed>long:21307175}})) Conformity and obedience were both positively correlated with pathogen prevalence and left-handedness was inversely correlated. Evolutionary biologists Thornhill and Fincher explain this result with their parasite-stress model. According to their theory, the nature of the political system that holds sway in a particular country - whether it is a repressive dictatorship or a liberal democracy - may be determined in large part by a single factor: the prevalence of infectious disease. In a region where disease is rife, they argue, fear of contagion may cause people to avoid outsiders, who may be carrying a strain of infection to which they have no immunity. Such a mindset would tend to make a community as a whole xenophobic, and might also discourage interaction between the various groups within a society - the social classes, for instance - to prevent unnecessary contact that might spread disease. For example, a 2008 study tested the idea that societies with more pathogens would be more collectivist. The researchers rated people in 98 different nations and regions, from Estonia to Ecuador, on the collectivist-individualist scale, using data from questionnaires and studies of linguistic cues that can betray a social outlook. Sure enough, they saw a correlation: the greater the threat of disease in a region, the more collectivist people's attitudes were.(({{pubmed>long:18302996}})) A study soon followed showing similar patterns when comparing US states. In another paper The team's results, published in 2009, showed that each measure varied strongly with pathogen prevalence, just as their model predicted.(({{pubmed>long:19046399}})) Importantly, the relationship still holds when you look at historical records of pathogen prevalence though not with the prevalence of diseases transmitted directly from animals to humans, [[http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP08151169.pdf|like rabies]]. Since collectivist behaviors would be less important for preventing such infections, this finding fits with Thornhill and Fincher's hypothesis. The team's [[http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP08151169.pdf|2010 paper]] that used more detailed data of the diseases prevalent in each region. They again found that measures of collectivism and democracy correlate with the presence of diseases that are passed from human to human. This, together with those early psychological studies of immediate reactions to disease, suggests it is a nation's health driving its political landscape, and not the other way around.+  * **pathogen prevalence may influence social conformity and choice of a political system** – As described in [[http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028133.300-genes-germs-and-the-origins-of-politics.html|New Scientist]], Murray and Schaller examined four sets of data, by country including: results from behavioral conformity experiments, percentage of the population who prioritize obedience, prevalence of left-handedness, and pathogen prevalence.(({{pubmed>long:21307175}})) Conformity and obedience were both positively correlated with pathogen prevalence and left-handedness was inversely correlated. Evolutionary biologists Thornhill and Fincher explain this result with their parasite-stress model. According to their theory, the nature of the political system that holds sway in a particular country - whether it is a repressive dictatorship or a liberal democracy - may be determined in large part by a single factor: the prevalence of infectious disease. In a region where disease is rife, they argue, fear of contagion may cause people to avoid outsiders, who may be carrying a strain of infection to which they have no immunity. Such a mindset would tend to make a community as a whole xenophobic, and might also discourage interaction between the various groups within a society - the social classes, for instance - to prevent unnecessary contact that might spread disease. For example, a 2008 study tested the idea that societies with more pathogens would be more collectivist. The researchers rated people in 98 different nations and regions, from Estonia to Ecuador, on the collectivist-individualist scale, using data from questionnaires and studies of linguistic cues that can betray a social outlook. Sure enough, they saw a correlation: the greater the threat of disease in a region, the more collectivist people's attitudes were.(({{pubmed>long:18302996}})) A study soon followed showing similar patterns when comparing US states. In another paper The team's results, published in 2009, showed that each measure varied strongly with pathogen prevalence, just as their model predicted.(({{pubmed>long:19046399}})) Importantly, the relationship still holds when you look at historical records of pathogen prevalence though not with the prevalence of diseases transmitted directly from animals to humans, [[http://journals.sagepub.com/action/doSearch?AllField=rabies&SeriesKey=evpa|like rabies]]. Since collectivist behaviors would be less important for preventing such infections, this finding fits with Thornhill and Fincher's hypothesis. The team's [[http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP08151169.pdf|2010 paper]] that used more detailed data of the diseases prevalent in each region. They again found that measures of collectivism and democracy correlate with the presence of diseases that are passed from human to human. This, together with those early psychological studies of immediate reactions to disease, suggests it is a nation's health driving its political landscape, and not the other way around.
  
  
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-==== "Vitamin" supplementation ====+==== Vitamin supplementation ====
  
-  * [[home:food:vitamind:vitamin_d_supplementation_policy|Vitamin D supplementation]] of baby food and also of the general food chain. +  * [[home:food:vitamind:vitamin_d_supplementation_policy|'Vitamin' D supplementation]] of baby food and also of the general food chain. 
   *The rise of the sun-loving culture in the 50s. Prior to the bikini, it was not so fashionable for the young to sunbathe excessively   *The rise of the sun-loving culture in the 50s. Prior to the bikini, it was not so fashionable for the young to sunbathe excessively
   * Supplementation with folic acid    * Supplementation with folic acid 
  
  
-==== Use of other immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive agents ====+==== Immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive agents ====
  
-  * Routine interference with immune reactions: anti-infammatories, anti-bacterials, corticosteroids, TNF-alpha drugs, etc.+  * Routine interference with immune reactions: anti-inflammatories, anti-bacterials, corticosteroids, TNF-alpha drugs, etc. 
 +  * [[home:waves:rf_overview|Radio frequency radiation]]
  
 ==== Novel vectors for sharing pathogens ====  ==== Novel vectors for sharing pathogens ==== 
home/pathogenesis/epidemiology.txt · Last modified: 09.14.2022 by 127.0.0.1
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