Respiratory System Diseases

Updated: The disease trackers – full text now available

The Mekong basin is teeming with life. Giant fish and crocodiles patrol the water, while thousands of birds fly through the air. The area’s biodiversity is among the richest in the world, and it is becoming more crowded. The basin stretches across 795 000 km2 of land, shared between China, Burma (Myanmar), Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. It is home to an estimated 60-70 million people, mostly farmers, and this number is expected to increase to 120 million by 2025. These residents, and their livestock, are slowly encroaching into areas inhabited by wild animals—a clash of species that is turning the Mekong into a time bomb of disease. Within this throng of humans and animals, emerging infections can find plenty of hosts and vectors, and viruses and parasites can jump the species barrier into humans.

There have already been worrying precedents. In 2003, the coronavirus that caused SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) spread from a neighbouring province in southern China to 37 countries in a matter of weeks, killing a tenth of the people it infected. The virus was a new threat that had jumped into humans from bats and civets. In the same year, H5N1 influenza also emerged from southern China, spreading from poultry to humans, causing high death rates and spreading across South East Asia. Just this year, Chinese scientists identified a new tick-borne virus called SFTSV (severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome bunyavirus) that causes high fever and multiple organ failure and has killed 36 people. Since 1980, a new human disease has emerged somewhere around the world every eight months or so, but it’s not just the new ones that have people worried.

The Mekong basin is a sanctuary where old diseases can gain a new lease of life. Drug resistant forms of malaria have a history of emerging from this region, and new strains that shrug off artemisenin, the most powerful weapon in our arsenal, have gained a foothold in Cambodia.

“There are innate fears that a disease will emerge that will cause something similar to the plague three or four hundred years ago—huge amounts of human death that can’t be controlled very quickly,” says Jonathan Rushton from the Royal Veterinary College. Such pandemics will probably start in other species. The US Institute of Medicine, an independent advisory body, estimates that three quarters of emerging infections are zoonotic (originating in animals). The health of animals and humans is inextricably linked, a concept enshrined by the One Health Initiative (www.onehealthinitiative.com), an international movement which seeks to unite doctors and veterinarians in efforts to control infectious diseases around the world. And there are few better places to start those efforts than the Mekong basin.

Common ailments of respiratory system - Common Diseases Associated ...

Common Diseases Associated with Marijuana Use

Marijuana is one of the most commonly abused illicit drugs available to both adults and youth. Cannabis, also known as marijuana, marihuana, bush, herb, hemp, grass, loco weed, resin and tea, is a psychoactive drug which can have either mild or strong effects on the mind and body, depending upon the quality of the plant and from which part of the plant it was taken. The most common psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (commonly known as THC). In smaller amounts, the cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) is also found.

Marijuana users display some common diseases, which are far more prevalent among the “weed” community than in non-drug users. Respiratory diseases and chest colds are the most common among marijuana users.

Emphysema decreases or causes abnormal respiratory function, due to a condition of the lungs which prevents them from expelling air completely and exchanging carbon dioxide for oxygen.[1]

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the membranes which line the bronchial tubes. The bronchial tubes are the airways through which we breathe. [1]

Lung cancer is another disease associated with long-term marijuana use, and it comes in various forms and sub-forms. Two main types are Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), which is very common, and Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC), which comprises only 20% of all lung cancer cases. NSCLC can be sub-divided into Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Adenocarcinoma, Bronchioalveolar Carcinoma, and Large Cell Undifferentiated Carcinoma. [1]

Bronchial asthma is exhibited through chronic inflammation of the lungs, which causes the bronchi (airways) to reversibly narrow. Think of being unable to breathe during a strong fit of coughing, as if the lungs and bronchi are working in unsynchronized order. [1]

Continuous, long-term marijuana use can cause a wide range of physical and physiological illnesses, including attacks to the immune system, cardiovascular system, respiratory and pulmonary systems, and the endocrine system. In addition to this, it increases susceptibility to infection and various types of cancer. [2]

Quality alcohol and drug testing equipment is available through CMM Technology. Keep your home and your workplace safe with regular testing. Reduce disease and susceptibility to disease, infections and viruses by carefully monitoring your staff at work. It is your responsibility to maintain a safe and secure working environment by keeping everyone healthy and following your company policies. Even though marijuana is a commonly used drug, you can reduce its use in your environment. Contact CMM Technology today: +618-9204-2500.

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