Environmental Health and Toxicology

These flashcards cover key terms and definitions related to Environmental Health and Toxicology, aiding in comprehension and retention of the subject matter.

Environmental Health

Focuses on external factors that cause diseases.

Disease

An abnormal change in the body's condition that impairs important physical or psychological functions.

Morbidity

Illness or the condition of being ill.

Mortality

Death or the state of being subject to death.

Pathogens

Disease causing organisms.

Toxins

Poisons that disrupt metabolic functions.

DALYs

Disability Adjusted Life Years, a measure of disease burden calculated by health agencies.

Zoonosis

The process by which diseases mutate and can jump species.

Vaccines

Biological preparations that provide acquired immunity to a particular disease.

Emergent Diseases

Diseases that are not previously known or have been absent for more than 20 years.

Chronic Wasting Disease

A disease caused by a prion related to mad cow disease, affecting deer and elk.

Ecological Diseases

Epidemics that affect domestic animals and wildlife, often caused by mutations that allow pathogens to jump species.

Conservation Medicine

A field devoted to tracking connections between wildlife and humans, seeking to prevent the spread of diseases.

Infectious Agents

Microorganisms that can cause disease.

Antagonistic

Substances that help to interfere or break down toxins, such as some vitamins.

Synergism

A phenomenon where one substance exacerbates the effects of another.