Climate change is increasing diseases.

They will be widespread and unpredictable.

By

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

An outbreak of the Ebola virus has killed 14 people in western Uganda last month. There is no treatment and no vaccine against Ebola, which is transmitted by close personal contact and, depending on the strain, kills up to 90 per cent of those who contract the virus. In recent years, Uganda has been hit with three Ebola outbreaks, the worst of which was in 2000, when more than half of the 425 people infected died.

Cases of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) has gone up to 50 in the Assam State in Eastern India. The areas mostly affected by Japanese Encephalitis are Kamrup, Sivasagar, Dhubri, Morigaon, Darrang and Nalbari. More than 400 people in northern India have died last year from encephalitis, a rare condition that causes inflammation of the brain. Around 347 people have died in Uttar Pradesh, while 54 children have died in the neighbouring state of Bihar. Cases of malaria is increasing every year in the state of Jharkhand, Assam, Orissa, Maharashtra etc.

With over 2,50,000 people testing positive for malaria last year, Orissa topped the chart for reporting the highest number of malaria cases. This was followed by 95,000 cases reported from Chhattisgarh and over 61,000 registered in Madhya Pradesh.

A 1996 report from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine calculated that, of ten of the world’s most dangerous vector-borne diseases (malaria, schistomiasis, dengue fever, lymphatic filariasis, sleeping sickness, guinea worm, leishmaniasis, river blindness, chagas’ disease and yellow fever), all but one were likely to increase, or in some way change their range as a result of climate change.

In recent years, vector-borne diseases (VBD) have emerged as a serious public health problem in countries of the South-East Asia Region, including India. Many of these, particularly dengue fever, Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and malaria now occur in epidemic form almost on an annual basis causing considerable morbidity and mortality. Dengue is spreading rapidly to newer areas, with outbreaks occurring more frequently and explosively. Chikungunya has re-emerged in India after a gap of more than three decades affecting many states.

Asia spans tropical and temperate regions. Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax malaria, dengue fever, dengue haemorrhagic fever, and schistosomiasis are endemic in parts of tropical Asia. In the past 100 years, mean surface temperatures have increased by 0.3–0.8 °C across the continent and are projected to rise by 0.4–4.5 °C by 2070.

An increase in temperature, rainfall and humidity in some months in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan has been associated with an increase in the incidence of  P. falciparum malaria. In north-east Punjab, malaria epidemics increase fivefold in the year following an El Niño event, while in Sri Lanka the risk of malaria epidemics increases fourfold during an El Niño year. In Punjab, epidemics are associated with above-normal precipitation, and in Sri Lanka, with below-normal precipitation.

According to WHO, many countries in Asia experienced unusually high levels of dengue and/or dengue haemorrhagic fever in 1998, the activity being higher than in any other year. Changes in weather patterns, such as El Niño events, may be major contributing factors, since laboratory experiments have demonstrated that the incubation period of dengue 2 virus could be reduced from 12 days at 30 °C to 7 days at 32–35 °C in Aedes aegypti .

Public health officials often use the term tropical diseases to refer collectively to a list of infectious diseases that are found primarily in developing countries. These include malaria, schistosomiasis, dengue, trypanosomiasis, leprosy, cholera, and leishmaniasis, among others. Many of these diseases are spread by insect vectors, and all of them disproportionately affect the world's poor. Malaria is the most severe of these, with the World Health Organization estimating that the disease causes about 250 million episodes of acute illness and perhaps 880,000 deaths annually.

The most widespread and severe climate-sensitive vector-borne disease in South America is malaria. Studies have shown that unusually dry conditions (for example, those caused by weather related to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation phenomenon in the northern part of the continent) are accompanied or followed by increases in the incidence of the disease. This has been documented in Colombia and Venezuela.

In Asia, dengue fever  and malaria  have been associated with positive temperature and rainfall anomalies, while in Australia arboviral disease outbreaks are most frequently associated with flooding. Urban developments in Asia and the surrounding regions may have a substantial impact on trends in the transmission of dengue fever. In some areas, such as Viet Nam, effects of past civil instability and slow economic growth may also be implicated.

Climate change would directly affect disease transmission by shifting the vector's geographic range and increasing reproductive and biting rates and by shortening the pathogen incubation period. Climate-related increases in sea surface temperature and sea level can lead to higher incidence of water-borne infectious and toxin-related illnesses, such as cholera and shellfish poisoning. Human migration and damage to health infrastructures from the projected increase in climate variability could indirectly contribute to disease transmission. Human susceptibility to infections might be further compounded by malnutrition due to climate stress on agriculture and potential alterations in the human immune system caused by increased flux of ultraviolet radiation.

Of the many scientists who have projected, predicted and warned of the likely health effects of climate change, almost all agree on the basics: they will be widespread and unpredictable, they are likely to be severe, and many, many people across the world will die as a result.

New Scientist magazine reported that ‘human disease is emerging as one of the most sensitive, and distressing indicators of climate change. “It is accepted by virtually all climate scientists that the likely increase in and spread of, potentially fatal diseases is likely to be the single most dangerous threat that climate change poses to human health.

Among the ten most dangerous diseases Malaria is the world’s most prevalent mosquito- borne disease. All experts seem to agree that one effect of climate change will be to increase the range of the malarial mosquito. Destruction of forests to create new human settlements can increase local temperatures by 3–4 °C and at the same time create breeding sites for malaria vectors. These phenomena can have serious consequences on malaria transmission in India, African highlands and other parts of the world.

And it is not just vector-borne diseases that are likely to take advantage of the changing climate. Other infectious killers are likely to enjoy a resurgence too, particularly diseases associated with water supply and sanitation. Climate change could have a major impact on water resources and sanitation by reducing water supply. This could in turn reduce the water available for drinking and washing, and lower the efficiency of local sewerage systems, leading to increased concentration of pathogenic organisms in raw water supplies.

More than 100 pathogens can cause illness if you drink or swim in water contaminated by sewage, including norovirus Norwalk and hepatitis A viruses and bacteria such as E. coli and campylobacter.

Several studies have shown that shifts brought about by climate change make ocean and freshwater environments more susceptible to toxic algae blooms and allow harmful microbes and bacteria to proliferate.

Global Warming will also increase rainfall intensity. Rainfalls will be heavier, triggering sewage overflows, contaminating drinking water and endangering beachgoers. Higher lake and ocean temperatures will cause bacteria, parasites and algal blooms to flourish. Warmer weather and heavier rains also will mean more mosquitoes, which can carry the West Nile virus, malaria and dengue fever. Fresh produce and shellfish are more likely to become contaminated.

Heavier rainfalls are one of the most agreed-upon effects of climate change. The frequency of intense rainfalls has increased notably in the Eastern India, China, Philippines, Korea and Japan.

Flooding may follow heavy rainfall. For developing nations there is evidence of outbreaks following floods. Outbreaks of leptospirosis in Rio de Janeiro (Barcellos and Sabroza 2001) and in the Philippines (Easton 1999) have followed floods. Hepatitis E, malaria and diarrhoeal disease have followed floods in Khartoom (Homeida et al. 1988; Novelli et al. 1988 ). Both acute diarrhoea and acute respiratory disease increased in Nicaragua following Hurricane Mitch and the associated flooding (Campanella 1999).

Temperature can affect both the distribution of the vector and the effectiveness of pathogen transmission through the vector. Gubler et al. (2001) list a range of possible mechanisms whereby changes in temperature impact on the risk of transmission of vector-borne disease:

1. Increase or decrease in survival of vector
2. Changes in rate of vector population growth
3. Changes in feeding behaviour
4. Changes in susceptibility of vector to pathogens
5. Changes in incubation period of pathogen
6. Changes in seasonality of pathogen transmission

By 2100 it is estimated that average global temperatures will have risen by 1.0–3.5 °C, increasing the likelihood of many vector-borne diseases in new areas. The greatest effect of climate change on transmission is likely to be observed at the extremes of the range of temperatures at which transmission occurs. For many diseases these lie in the range 14–18 °C at the lower end and about 35–40 °C at the upper end. Malaria and dengue fever are among the most important vector-borne diseases in the tropics and subtropics; Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the USA and Europe. Encephalitis is also becoming a public health concern. Health risks due to climatic changes will differ between countries that have developed health infrastructures and those that do not.

Human settlement patterns in the different regions will influence disease trends. While 70% of the population in South America is urbanized, the proportion in sub-Saharan Africa is less than 45%. Climatic anomalies associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation phenomenon and resulting in drought and floods are expected to increase in frequency and intensity. They have been linked to outbreaks of malaria in Africa, Asia and South America. Climate change has far-reaching consequences and touches on all life-support systems. It is therefore a factor that should be placed high among those that affect human health and survival.

Conclusion:

Analyzing the role of climate in the emergence of human infectious diseases will require interdisciplinary cooperation among physicians, climatologists, biologists, and social scientists. Increased disease surveillance, integrated modeling, and use of geographically based data systems will afford more anticipatory measures by the medical community. Understanding the linkages between climatological and ecological change as determinants of disease emergence and redistribution will ultimately help optimize preventive strategies.

References:

Barcellos, C. and Sabroza, P.C. (2001) The place behind the case: leptospirosis risks and associated environmental conditions in a flood-related outbreak in Rio de Janeiro. Cadernos de Saude Publica 17(suppl), 59–67.

Bouma MJ, Dye C, van der Kaay HJ. (1996) Falciparum malaria and climate change in the northwest frontier province of Pakistan. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,  55: 131–137

Bouma MJ et al. (1997) Predicting high-risk years for malaria in Colombia using parameters of El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Tropical Medicine and International Health, 2: 1122–1127.       

Campanella, N. (1999) Infectious diseases and natural disasters: the effects of Hurricane Mitch over Villanueva municipal area, Nicaragua. Public Health Reviews 27, 311–319.

Dengue in the WHO Western Pacific Region.(1998) Weekly epidemiological record, 73(36): 273–277.        

Easton, A. (1999) Leptospirosis in Philippine floods. British Medical Journal 319, 212.

Gubler, D.J., Reiter, P., Ebi, K.L., Yap, W., Nasci, R. and Patz, J.A. (2001) Climate variability and change in the United States: potential impacts on vector- and rodent-borne diseases. Environmental Health Perpectives 109(suppl 2), 223–233.

Homeida, M., Ismail, A.A., El Tom, I., Mahmoud, B. and Ali, H.M. (1988) Resistant malaria and the Sudan floods. Lancet 2, 912.

Novelli, V., El Tohami, T.A., Osundwa, V.M. and Ashong, F. (1988) Floods and resistant malaria. Lancet 2, 1367.

Poveda, G et al.(1999) Climate and ENSO variability associated with vector-borne diseases in Colombia. In: Diaz HF, Markgraf V, eds. El Niño and the Southern Oscillation, multiscale variability and regional impact. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. 

Watts DM et al. (1987) Effect of temperature on the vector efficiency of Aedes aegypti for dengue 2 virus. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1987, 36: 143–152.        

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2672.94.s1.5.x/full

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=394508

http://www.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/CDS_vector-borne_diseases_in_India.pdf

http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?pid=S0042-96862000000900009&script=sci_arttext&tlng=e

Coal mining destroying the environment and health of people in Jharkhand state of India.

Longevity has reduced drastically.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Children are more affected.

Contaminated community water source with low pH value

Polluted river bed.

Atmosphere is also polluted.

Black river.

Dust is every where.

The health hazards, degeneration of the health conditions of the people especially tribal women and children and water contamination is one of the most serious impacts of coal mining in Jharkhand.

Jharkhand is an area of abundant coalmines. Most of the coalmines are situated in Hazaribag, Chatra, Palamau, Rajmahal, Dhanbad and Ranchi district. Mighty Damodar River and its tributaries flow through these coalmines.

Jharkhand is the homeland of over a dozen indigenous communities, the major ones being the Santhals, the Mundas, the Oraons and the Hos. Most of their populations are concentrated around the coal mines area.

Today, the picture of Damodar River or Damuda, considered a sacred river by the local tribals, is quite like a sewage canal shrunken and filled with filth and rubbish, emanating obnoxious odours. This river once known as “River of Sorrow” for its seasonal ravages, has now turned into a “River of Agony” from the environmental point of view.

Due to extensive coal mining and vigorous growth of industries in this area water resources have been badly contaminated. The habitants have, however, been compromising by taking contaminated and sometimes polluted water, as there is no alternative source of safe drinking water. Thus, a sizeable populace suffers from water borne diseases.

The Damodar river basin is a repository of approximately 46 per cent of the Indian coal reserves. A high demographic and industrial expansion has taken place in last three decades in the region. Exploitation of coal by underground and open cast mining has lead to a great environmental threat in this area.

Besides mining, coal based industries like coal washeries, coke oven plants, coal fired thermal power plants, steel plants and other related industries in the region also greatly impart towards degradation of the environmental equality vis-a-vis human health.
The most affected part of the natural- resources is water in this region and thereby human health.

Damodar is a small rainfed river (541 km long) originating from the Khamerpet hill (1068 m), near the trijunction of Palamau, Ranchi, and Hazaribag districts of Jharkhand. It flows through the cities Ramgarh, Dhanbad, Asansol, Durgapur, Bardwan and Howrah before ultimately joining the lower Ganga (Hooghly estuary) at Shayampur, 55 km downstream of Howrah. The river is fed by a number of tributaries at different reaches, the principal ones being Jamunia, Bokaro, Konar, Safi, Bhera, Nalkari and Barakar.

The total catchment area of the basin is about 23,170 km of this, three- fourth of the basin lies in Jharkhand and one-fourth in West Bengal. The major part of the rainfall (82%) occurs during the monsoon season with a few sporadic rains in winter. Damodar basin is an important coal bearing area and at least seven coal fields are located in this region.

High increase in the population i.e. from 5.0 million (1951) to 14.6 mil- lion (1991) has been observed during the last four decades which is the out- come of the heavy industrialization in this basin mainly in coal sector.

Due to easy availability of coal and prime cooking coal, several thermal power plants, steel plants have grown up. Discharge of uncontrolled and untreated industrial wastewater, often containing highly toxic metals is the major source of pollution of Damodar River.

Mine water and runoff through overburden material of open cast mines also contribute towards pollution of nearby water resources of the area. Huge amount of overburden materials have been dumped on the bank of the river and its tributaries, which finally get spread in the rivers especially in the rainy season. These activities have resulted in the visible deterioration of the quality of the river water.

The large scale mining operations going on this region have also adversely affected ground water table in many areas with the result that yield of water from the wells of adjoining villages has drastically reduced. Further, effluents discharged from the mine sites have also seriously, polluted the underground water of the area.

Mine water does not have acid mine drainage problem. It may be due to the fact that coal deposits of this basin are associated with minor amounts of pyrites and contain low Sulphur. Iron content in this water is found in the range of 1 to 6 mg/1. Though it is not alarming but it may be toxic to some aquatic species. Mine water is generally bacterially contaminated which is clear from the value lying in the range of 100 to 2500.

Heavy metals like manganese, chromium, lead, arsenic, mercury, floride, cadmium, and copper are also found in the sediments and water of Damodar river and its tributary like Safi River. Permian coal of this area contains all these toxic elements in considerable amount. Presence of lead is high above the alarming level i.e. 300 ppm (parts per million) in the coals of North Karanpura coal field.

The study warned that long term exposure to the lead present in that area might result in general weakness, anorexia, dyspepsia, metallic taste in the mouth, headache, drowsiness, high blood pressure and anaemia etc.

The Damodar sediments are deficient in calcium and magnesium and rich in potassium concentration. Titanium and iron are the dominant heavy metals followed by manganese, zine, copper, chromium, lead, arsenic, and mercury. Other heavy metal like strontium shows more or less uniform concentration throughout the basin. Average concentration of strontium in the sediments of the river is 130 ppm. Silica is also high in the sediments of Damodar River and its tributary. The value is 28ppm.

Arsenic in the water ranges from 0.001 to 0.06 mg/1, mercury ranges from 0.0002 to 0.004 mg/1, floride ranges from 1 to 3 mg/1.

It is obvious that due to extensive coal mining and vigorous growth of industries in this area water resources have been badly contaminated. The habitants have, however, been compromising by taking contaminated and sometimes polluted water, as there is no alternate source of drinking water. Thus, a sizeable populace suffers from water borne diseases.

As per the heath survey of the local people, the most common diseases are dysentery, diarrhoea, skin infection, worm infection, jaundice, and typhoid. Dysentery and skin infections occur in high percentage in the area. If proper steps are not taken up the total population mostly tribals will be on the verge of extinction.

The Agaria tribe and other tribes that inhabit the coalfields of North Karanpura and East Parej, India are faced with severe water contamination. In East Parej, more than 80% of the community lives in poverty. Water for the community comes from hand pumps, dug wells, local streams and rivers. In some areas, mine water and river water is supplied through pipes. But most people are dependent on other sources - which are contaminated - for their water needs. Women and children in these areas have to travel more than 1 kilometer to fetch safe drinking water. Most villagers are left with no choice but to drink contaminated water. Dug wells are generally dried up during the summer and winter. Natural drainage is obstructed and diverted due to the expansion of mining. Villagers in these areas have no concept of how to preserve and purify rainwater.

Our longevity has reduced drastically, said Phulmani Kujur a 38 year old women of East Parej coal field. We avoid taking bath everyday, there are a gap of 5 to 10 days, and do not drink water adequately due to water pollution, said Mahesh a Santhal Tribe of the same village.

Study reveals that average longevity of women in East Parej coal field was found to be 45 and in most of the villages only one or two women had crossed the age of 60. In North Karanpura coal field average longevity of male is 50 years and that of female is 45 years.

The number of deaths in a period of five years, in East Parej, also reveals shocking figures in Dudhmatia village: 6 out of average 80 people, in Agariatola village: 12 out of average 100 people, in Lapangtandi: 13 out of average 115 people, and in Ulhara: 9 (seven were children) out of average 80 people.

Villagers of Agariatola complain that their only source of drinking water has been damaged due to dumping of overburden and expansion of open cast mine. Villagers have no substitute but to drink the water of well provided by the miners which according to the villagers is not good in taste with foul smell and yellow colour. Villagers of Dudhmatia of the same coal field complained about foul smell present in the water of the only hand pump.

Average kilometers travel by the villagers to retrieve safe drinking water is 1 to 2 kilometers. In summer season we have to travel even more to have safe drinking water, alleged women of the affected areas. Sometimes organizations supply us the water through tankers but they are not sufficient, said villagers of the East Parej, North Karanpura and South Karanpura coal field.

In the absence of even primary hospital and doctors in East Parej (there is only one hospital run by Central Coalfields Limited) villagers are more dependent on the quacks as they are the regular visitor in the remote area.

Our children are the most affected due to living in such unhygienic conditions and filth, said villagers of the North Karanpura coal field, one of the biggest coal mines of the area.
These are one of the most common situations in all the coal mines area of Jharkhand. Most of the population in North Karanpura coal field is dependent on Safi River for drinking and other domestic purposes. This river is polluted because of the coalmines waste dumped along the banks of the river at different locations. Water of the area is contaminated with toxic metals like arsenic and mercury. Manganese has crossed the toxic level ( 3.6 milligram per liter against the permissible level of 0.5 mg/l.). According to WHO (World Health Organization) high manganese may affect with the symptoms like lethargy, increased muscle tone and mental disturbances.

Health survey done among the boys and girls in a local school it was found that majority of the children (both tribal and non-tribal) are lethargic may be due to inhalation of coal dust and consumption of contaminated water containing high manganese.

In the coal fields of Jharkhand most of the tribal women are employed in secondary activities such as loading and unloading of the coals. According to Chotanagpur Adivasi Sewa Samiti, a NGO working in Hazaribag district, constant contact with dust pollution and indirectly through contamination of water, air, etc. cause severe health hazard to women workers. As majority of the women workers are contract labourers, and paid on daily wage basis there is no economic security or compensation paid due to loss of workdays on account of health problems. Even during pregnancy women has to work in hazardous conditions amidst noise, air pollution that have adverse affects on their offspring.

Malaria is very common. It is found that there are numerous ditches, stagnant mine water, and open tanks breeding all the species mosquitoes. Majorities of the death were attributed to malaria. Next come the skin diseases such as eczema, rashes on the skin etc. it may be due to lack of care and cleanliness or due to the presence of nickel in drinking water. In some area like East Parej high nickel (0.024 mg/l) have been reported in the water. According to WHO nickel is a common skin allergen.

Many especially children of the coal fields suffer from dysentery and diarrhoea. According to the residents of the coal field, it is because of consuming contaminated water. About 60% of the local people are affected with seasonal allergies. Other diseases found were tuberculosis, headache, joints pain (pain begins at the age of 5 to 10 years, especially in North Karanpura), gastric, cough and cold and asthma.

When asked from the villagers in East Parej and North Karanpura about what do they think about future, they replied situation is going to worsen. They are not very confident about their life span. There is always a threat of displacement due to expansion of coal mining, which finally affects their longevity.

Fluoride, arsenic, nickel, sulfate, and manganese pose the biggest threats to water sources in the region. They have been shown to cause adverse effects when consumed over a long period of time. Health care facilities can improve the situation immensely, but it is more desirable to maintain the philosophy that prevention is better than the cure. Medical checkups can be adopted to improve the situation. Installation of pollution control equipment is needed for monitoring and analyzing pollution data. Seeing that nearly all the water sources under study are contaminated, the only short term solution for safe drinking water is rain water harvesting. Indigenous methods, such as disinfecting and purifying water with the help of medicinal plants, can be adopted for purifying water in ways that are cost efficient.

The international community can also help by providing funds to carry out research and analysis of the problem in more detail. Publishing these results can help other communities around the world figure out the best methods for improving water quality. Awareness programs should be given major importance.

These research project was sponsored to the author by Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India and Green Grant Fund, U.S.A. and supported by Earth Day Network, U.S.A

Problems of Urban growth.

Ranchi the capital city of Jharkhand State in India is expanding both vertical and horizontal resulting in lots of problem.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

As more and more people leave villages and farms to live in cities, urban growth results. Urbanization occurs naturally from individual and corporate efforts to reduce time and expense in commuting and transportation while improving opportunities for jobs, education, housing, and transportation. Living in cities permits individuals and families to take advantage of the opportunities of proximity, diversity, and marketplace competition.
People move into cities to seek economic opportunities. In rural areas, often on small family farms, it is difficult to improve one's standard of living beyond basic sustenance. Farm living is dependent on unpredictable environmental conditions, and in times of drought, flood or pestilence, survival becomes extremely problematic.
Cities, in contrast, are known to be places where money, services and wealth are centralized. Cities are where fortunes are made and where social mobility is possible. Businesses, which generate jobs and capital, are usually located in urban areas. Whether the source is trade or tourism, it is also through the cities that foreign money flows into a country. It is easy to see why someone living on a farm might wish to take their chance moving to the city and trying to make enough money to send back home to their struggling family.
There are better basic services as well as other specialist services that aren't found in rural areas. There are more job opportunities and a greater variety of jobs. Health is another major factor. People, especially the elderly are often forced to move to cities where there are doctors and hospitals that can cater for their health needs. Other factors include a greater variety of entertainment (restaurants, movie theaters, theme parks, etc) and a better quality of education, namely universities. Due to their high populations, urban areas can also have much more diverse social communities allowing others to find people like them when they might not be able to in rural areas.

Clearly, urban settlements differ greatly in size, as mentioned by their populations. Is there a Theoretical maximum and an optimum size? Criffith Taylor and others believe that the ultimate size may be fixed by the increasing difficulty of obtaining enough water to supply unduly large numbers concentrated in a small area, while Lewis Mumford and similar authors think that the continued growth of very large cities not only produces more administrative problems than benefits. This also paralyses rather than furthers social relationships and phenomenally raises central land values, so much that land ceases to be adaptable to new needs.

Views on the optimum size of a city have altered with the march of history. Plato believed that most desirable size was 5,000, a figure which would allow everybody to hear the voice of an orator and so participate in active political life and develop varied social relations. Late nineteenth – century garden city enthusiasts in Britain thought that towns of 30,000 to 50,000 would be large enough supply all necessary human needs, whether medical, educational, social, economic or cultural.

Towns could not come into being until the surrounding countryside was capable of providing a food surplus in the past. Due to modern transport and large surpluses in many parts of the world, towns generally have little difficulty in obtaining food, even from far distant lands. Developing countries may lack the capital to give all their town folk an adequate diet, and even in developed countries there are sporadic temporary shortages, owing to failures in economic planning, poor harvests, dock strikes and traffic hold-ups occasioned by excessive rain, snow, floods, droughts etc.

The problem of water supply is more permanent and applies specifically to cities. It is becoming increasingly serious even in advanced countries which certainly have no problem in paying for the water they consume. The root of the problem lies in the fact that 98% of the earth’s surface water is contained in the salt oceans and in ice-caps. The remainder is unevenly distributed and often polluted. Over half is needed for agriculture, about a third for industry, 10 percent for domestic use.

Many cities, especially in developing countries, lack a clean supply of fresh water. In India, e.g., less than a third of the urban population has access to pure water, and the main reason why water borne diseases are rampant. Even when people are provided with purified water for drinking, they usually wash themselves and their clothing in contaminated supplies.

The demands made on water by urban industries, power stations and homes are growing at a more rapid rate than the growth of population. Many wells do not yield enough water, river pollution, like Ganga, Damodar etc. in India, is a continuing evil, and the remaining water resources- mostly in thinly populated highland areas of abundant rain- are far from many consuming centres.

After being separated from Bihar, Jharkhand state of India is now fast growing in terms of business. Ranchi the capital city is expanding both vertical and horizontal resulting in lots of problem like irregular electric supply, water supply, ground water depletion, air pollution, noise pollution, municipal waste disposal, failure of drainage systems, traffic jams etc. Surface waters are being contaminated. Seasonal diseases have also multiplied. More and more people are concentrating in the city flats which has raised the land values many fold. Ranchi earlier known as the summer capital has now become the heat furnace during summer. It is all due to the unplanned expansion of the city.

The urban heat island has become a growing concern and is increasing over the years. The urban heat island is formed when industrial and urban areas are developed and heat becomes more abundant. In rural areas, a large part of the incoming solar energy is used to evaporate water from vegetation and soil. In cities, where less vegetation and exposed soil exists, the majority of the sun’s energy is absorbed by urban structures and asphalt. Hence, during warm daylight hours, less evaporative cooling in cities allows surface temperatures to rise higher than in rural areas. Additional city heat is given off by vehicles and factories, as well as by industrial and domestic heating and cooling units. This effect causes the city to become 2 to 10 degree F (1 to 6 degree C) warmer than surrounding landscapes. Impacts also include reducing soil moisture and intensification of carbon dioxide emissions.
Owing to population growth, poor levels of hygiene, and increasing urban poverty, the urban environment in many developing countries is rapidly deteriorating. Densely packed housing in shanty towns or slums and inadequate drinking-water supplies, garbage collection services, and surface-water drainage systems combine to create favourable habitats for the proliferation of vectors and reservoirs of communicable diseases. As a consequence, vector-borne diseases such as malaria, lymphatic filariasis and dengue are becoming major public health problems associated with rapid urbanization in many tropical countries

Another change that has occurred after the oil crisis of 1973 is the vertical growth of large cities. People who were living in suburbs found it costly to travel to the city. The open spaces within the city got filled up by the construction of high rise buildings. Large bungalows and old residences were demolished and high rise buildings have come up both as commercial complexes and as residential flats. Many rich families are migrating from the suburbs to flats or apartments near the city centre. The vertical expansion of cities poses further problems in water supply, sewage disposal and traffic congestion on the roads. Traffic causes urban noise, air pollution, stress and strain in an individual.

One solution for both lateral expansion and vertical growth of a city is to develop satellite towns at a distance of 40 to 50 km from the city. The satellite town will not be a mere residential town to accommodate commuters. Such a satellite town will be both a place of work and a place of living.

History of Global Killer- Malaria.

Malaria is also spreading in new areas in Jharkhand.

Blame it on climate change.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

A female Anopheles mosquito acts as a deadly hypodermic, injecting the malaria parasite when she feeds on human blood. Nearly half billion people get malaria each year. More than a million die. After decades of neglect, the world is renewing its fight against the disease.

In truth, malaria now affects more people than ever before. It’s endemic to 106 nations, threatening half the world’s population. In recent years, the parasite has grown so entrenched and has developed resistance to so many drugs that the most potent strains can scarcely be controlled. In coming years malaria will strike up to a half billion people.

According to National Geographic Magazine( July,2007), at least a million will die, most of them under age five, the vast majority living in Africa. Death may also occur in Asia including India, where malaria is spreading to new areas. Blame on climate change.

Changes in temperature can affect the development and survival of malaria parasites and the mosquitoes that carry them, according to a joint 2004 study by the State University of New York, Buffalo, and the Kenya Medical Research Institute.

Rainfall also influences the availability of mosquito habitats and the size of mosquito populations, the research found.
Jharkhand State of India is on the front line of climate change and is witnessing a rise in tropical diseases such as malaria.
Jharkhand was nearly free of malaria in 1970, but it is making a comeback. We are now finding malaria in places that we did not expect to find it. It is spreading to the new areas. Every year thousands are being affected and hundred’s being killed.
Spreading of malaria is worrying because people have not built up immunity to the malaria parasite. Epidemics are now more deadly, particularly for humans who do not have immunity and are taken by surprise when they're bitten.
Patients can get cerebral complications and lung and kidney failures if they do not get immediate treatment."

Malaria is a changed disease in recent times. Benign, through chronic disease of yesterdays, has undergone a malignant transformation. Often, it results in multiorgan (system) failure, which need immediate multi specially attention for survival. Suddenly, malaria may behave as an epidemic and end in high mortality.

Malaria past to present:

The disease has been with humans since before we were human. Our hominin ancestors almost certainly suffered from malaria. The parasite and the mosquito are both ancient creatures- the dinosaurs might have had malaria-and this longevity has allowed the disease ample time to exploit the vulnerabilities of an immune system.

Malaria is probably one of the oldest diseases known to mankind that has had profound impact on our history. But for malaria, the outcomes of many a wars and destinies of many a kings would have been different. It has been responsible for the decline of nations and crushing military defeats, often having caused more casualties than the weapons themselves. For centuries it prevented any economic development in vast regions of the earth. It continues to be a huge social, economical and health problem, particularly in the tropical countries. History of malaria and its terrible effects is as ancient as the history of civilization, therefore history of mankind itself.

Malaria was linked with poisonous vapours of swamps or stagnant water on the ground since time immemorial. This probable relationship was so firmly established that it gave the two most frequently used names to the disease mal’aria, later shortened to one word malaria, and paludisme. The term malaria (from the Italian mala “bad” and aria “air”) was used by the Italians to describe the cause of intermittent fevers associated with exposure to marsh air or miasma. The word was introduced to English by Horace Walpole, who wrote in 1740 about a “horrid thing called mal’aria, that comes to Rome every summer and kills one.” The term malaria, without the apostrophe, evolved into the name of the disease only in the 20th century. Up to that point the various intermittent fevers had been called jungle fever, marsh fever, paludal fever, or swamp fever.

Mentions of malaria can be found in the ancient Roman, Chinese, Indian and Egyptian manuscripts and later in numerous Shakespearean plays. The belief that mosquitoes transmit disease also is an ancient one.

One of the oldest scripts, written several thousand years ago in cuneiform script on clay tablets, attributes malaria to Nergal, the Babylonian god of destruction and pestilence, pictured as a double-winged, mosquito-like insect. A few centuries later, the natives told Philistines settling in Canaan, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, of the god Beelzebub, lord of the insects. The evil reputation of this deity increased through the ages until the early Jews named him "Prince of the Devils."

The connection between malaria and swamps was known even in antiquity and the evil spirits or malaria gods were believed to live within the marshes. This belief is likely the origin of the Greek fable of Hercules and Hydra.

Sumerian and Egyptian texts dating from 3,500 to 4,000 years ago refer to fevers and splenomegaly, suggestive of malaria. The Sumerian records apparently make frequent reference to deadly epidemic fevers, probably due to P. falciparum.

The Vedic (3,500 to 2,800 years ago) and Brahmanic (2,800 to 1,900 years ago) scriptures of Northern India (Indus valley) contain many references to fevers akin to malaria. They are also said to make reference to autumnal fevers as the "King of diseases". The Atharva Veda specifically details the fact that fevers were particularly common after excessive rains (mahavarsha) or when there was a great deal of grass cover (mujavanta). The ancient Hindus were also aware of the mosquito's harmful potential. In 800 B.C. the sage Dhanvantari wrote, "Their bite is as painful as that of the serpents, and causes diseases... [The wound] as if burnt with caustic or fire, is red, yellow, white, and pink color, accompanied by fever, pain of limbs, hair standing on end, pains, vomiting, diarrhea, thirst, heat, giddiness, yawning, shivering, hiccups, burning sensation, intense cold..." Charaka Samhita, one of the ancient Indian texts on Ayurvedic medicine which was written in approximately 300 BC, and the Susruta Samhita, written about 100 BC, refer to diseases where fever is the main symptom. The Charaka Samhita classifies the fevers into five different categories, namely continuous fevers (samatah), remittent fevers (satatah), quotidian fevers (anyedyuskah), tertian fevers (trtiyakah) and quartan fevers (caturthakah) and Susruta Samhita even associated fevers with the bites of the insects.

Malaria appeared in the writings of the Greeks from around 500 BC. Hippocrates, "The Father of Medicine" and probably the first malariologist, described the various malaria fevers of man by 400BC. Hippocratic corpus distinguished the intermittent malarial fever from the continuous fever of other infectious diseases, and also noted the daily, every-other-day, and every-third-day temperature rise. The Hippocratic corpus was the first document to mention about splenic change in malaria and also it attributed malaria to ingestion of stagnant water: "Those who drink [stagnant water] have always large, stiff spleens and hard, thin, hot stomachs, while their shoulders, collarbones, and faces are emaciated; the fact is that their flesh dissolves to feed the spleen..." Hippocrates also related the fever to the time of the year and to where the patients lived.

Malaria likely originated in Africa and has coevolved along with its hosts. The first evidence of malaria (also called paludisme) parasites had been found in mosquitoes preserved in amber from the Paleogene period that are approximately 30 million years old. Malaria may have been a human pathogen for the entire history of the species. Indeed, close relatives of the human malaria parasites remain common in chimpanzees, the closest evolutionary relative of modern humans.About 10,000 years ago malaria started having a major impact on human survival which coincides with start of agriculture (Neolithic revolution).

Interesting historical facts about Malaria:

1. By one estimate, malaria has killed half the people who have ever lived on this planet
2. Fossils of mosquitoes 30 million years old show signs of malaria, suggesting even prehistoric man could have suffered
3. Researchers studying bodies of ancient Egyptians have found evidence of malaria in people who lived over 3,000 years ago
4. Malaria is thought to have directly contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire
5. In 1574 the Vatican was moved from its original location to where it stands today by Pope Gregory XIII because of the high incidence of malaria that had led to its unhealthy reputation
6. William Shakespeare (1564–1616), mentioned ague (malaria) in eight of his plays. For example, in The Tempest (Act II, Scene II), the slave Caliban curses Prosper, his master: "All the infections that the sun sucks up / from bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall and make him / By inch-meal a disease!"
7. Lancisi (1717) linked the disease with poisonous vapours of swamps and thus originated the name malaria, meaning bad air
8. In 1809 Napoleon used malaria as a biological warfare agent, flooding the Dutch countryside. Over 4,000 British Army troops are reported to have died of the disease with another 10,000 unable to continue with military service
9. In 1640, Huan del Vego first employed the tincture of the cinchona bark for treating malaria, although aborigines of Peru and Ecuador had been using it even earlier for treating fevers.
10. Morton (1696) presented the first detailed clinical picture of malaria and its treatment with cinchona.
11. Lancisi (1717) linked malaria with poisonous vapours of swamps and thus originated the name malaria, meaning bad air
12. Gize (1816) studied extraction of quinine from the cinchona bark
13. Pelletier and Caventou (1820) extracted pure quinine alkaloids
14. Laveran (1880) a French physician working in Algeria, first identified the causative agent for human malaria while viewing blood slides under a microscope.
15. P.vivax and P.malariae were identified in 1885 by Golgi
16. Sakharov (1889) and Marchiafava and Celli (1890) identified P.falciparum
17. Sir Ronald Ross (1897) while working as a military physician in India, demonstrated the malarial oocysts in the gut tissue of female Anopheles mosquito. This was reported in the British Medical Journal
18. Paul Muller (1939) discovered the insecticidal properties of DDT
19. Curd, Davey and Rose (1944) synthesised proguanil for treating falciparum malaria

Sources:
Poinar G (May 2005). "Plasmodium dominicana n. sp. (Plasmodiidae: Haemospororida) from Tertiary Dominican amber". Syst. Parasitol. 61 (1): 47–52.

Joy DA, Feng X, Mu J, Furuya T, Chotivanich K, Krettli AU, Ho M, Wang A, White NJ, Suh E, Beerli P, Su XZ. (2003). "Early origin and recent expansion of Plasmodium falciparum.". Science 300 (5617): 318–321

Hayakawa T, Culleton R, Otani H, Horii T, Tanabe K (2008). "Big bang in the evolution of extant malaria parasites.". Mol Biol Evol. 25 (10): 2233–2239.

Martin MJ, Rayner JC, Gagneux P, Barnwell JW, Varki A (2005). "Evolution of human-chimpanzee differences in malaria susceptibility: relationship to human genetic loss of N-glycolylneuraminic acid.". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 102 (36): 12819–12824.

Sinha, A.K., 2005. Malaria. A.P.H. publishing corporation, New Delhi.

http://www.malariasite.com/MALARIA/History.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_malaria
http://www.malariahotspots.co.uk/kidsHistory.asp
http://www.malaria-ipca.com/mw_history.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080109-malaria-warming.html

Can the use of stabilized oxygen cure malaria patient of the Jharkhand State of India?

Can the use of stabilized oxygen cure malaria patient of the Jharkhand State of India?
by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi
Jharkhand state of India has recorded a sudden increase in malaria from last several years. Last year malaria caused more than 100 deaths and detecting thousands people affected by the disease. The highest number of cases was detected in West Singhbhum district.Marshy lands, water logging especially in abandoned open coal mines area and unhygienic conditions in this region have become a haven for mosquitoes to breed and spread dreaded filaria, malaria and dengue, further the situation is compounded by apathetic attitude of the State administration.
Situation is becoming worse as every year new areas are coming under threat with increasing number of deaths.
Recently I received a research paper from one of my friend quoting use of Aerobic Stabilized Oxygen as a remedy for malaria.
Research paper claims that Aerobic Stabilized Oxygen is a tasteless, odorless liquid concentrate of non-toxic stabilized molecular oxygen electrolytes. Oxygen destroys harmful anaerobic bacteria without destroying the beneficial aerobic bacteria which we need for good health.

According to the different reports Oxygen is effective against the following harmful anaerobic bacteria:– Salmonella, Cholera, E. Coli, Streptococcus, Pseudamonas, Staphylococcus, Various parasites and microorganisms including Giardia lamblia

We all know that Oxygen is the source of life and energy to the cells of your body. Poor eating and drinking habits, air pollution, medications, and lack of exercise can greatly reduce the amount of oxygen available to the cells, thereby seriously affecting the functioning of the immune system. Thus the development of a shortage of oxygen in the blood could very well be the starting point for the loss of the immune system and the beginning of feared health problems such as cancer, leukemia, AIDS, seizures, and nerve deterioration.
According to the report the no.1 killer of mankind in the world today is malaria, a disease that is usually overcome by this supplement in only four hours in most cases. This has been proven through clinical trials in Malawi, a country in eastern Africa. In killing the malaria parasite in the body, there was not a single failure. More than 75,000 malaria victims have taken the Miracle Mineral Supplement and are now back to work and
living productive lives.

There are many applications for the use of Stabilized/Aerobic Oxygen. The major area of its application is to kill of harmful organisms, and at the same time increase the concentration of oxygen.
Report also claims that ordinary water contains 9-12 parts per million of oxygen (and who knows what else?), whereas Water + Stabilized 02 contains 9000 parts per million of oxygen — which in turn kills every form of infectious bacteria that water contains. Oxygen kills coliform bacteria and microorganisms in drinking water without the need to boil the water. Laboratory reports show 10 drops of Aerobic Stabilized Oxygen in 8 fluid ounces of mountain water kills the organism Giardia Lamblia in just two and a half minutes.
In the research report lots of cases regarding curing of malaria with stabilized has been reported has been reported.

Consuming oxygen in sufficient amount to keep our body and mind healthy is not new. In Hindu religion importance of consuming oxygen from the air especially in early morning through different methods of Yoga is mentioned several times from ancient days. According to this concept increased oxygen in our body will keep our body healthy.
Whatever may be the truth, but if this miracle element is really curing the dreaded disease like malaria, Government of India and Jharkhand State must promote researches on this miracle element and its uses.
Reference:

http://www.se1.us/health/stabilized-oxygen/
http://www.se1.us/health/stabilized-oxygen/oxy2.html
http://www.portalmarket.com/stableoxy.html
http://www.essense-of-life.com/info/stabilizedoxygen.htm
http://miraclemineral.org/part1.php
http://projectcamelot.org/jim_humble.html