Editorial: The Future of Environmental Medicine in
            <i>Environmental Health Perspectives</i>
            : Where Should We Be Headed?

Schwartz, Brian S.; Rischitelli, Gary; Hu, Howard

doi:10.1289/ehp.113-1280414

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This stems from their realisation that toxicant exposure assessment requires knowledge of highly complex clinical domains from genetics, nutrition, geomedicine, microbiomics and exposomics, which are not widely taught or integrated into clinical practice. Furthermore, environmental practitioners must diagnose and provide medical and nonmedical management for environmental diseases, translate new research results into practice and make complex causal inferences [ 28 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expert clinician’s perspectives on environmental medicine and toxicant assessment in clinical practice

Bijlsma

Cohen

2018

Environ Health Prev Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundMost clinicians feel ill-equipped to assess or educate patients about toxicant exposures, and it is unclear how expert environmental medicine clinicians assess these exposures or treat exposure-related conditions. We aimed to explore expert clinicians’ perspectives on their practice of environmental medicine to determine the populations and toxicants that receive the most attention, identify how they deal with toxicant exposures and identify the challenges they face and where they obtain their knowledge.MethodsA qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with expert environmental clinicians in Australia and New Zealand was conducted. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and themes were identified and collated until no new themes emerged.ResultsFive dominant themes emerged from 16 interviews: (1) environmental medicine is a divided profession based on type of practice, patient cohort seen and attitudes towards nutrition and exposure sources; (2) clinical assessment of toxicant exposures is challenging; (3) the environmental exposure history is the most important clinical tool; (4) patients with environmental sensitivities are increasing, have unique phenotypes, are complex to treat and rarely regain full health; and (5) educational and clinical resources on environmental medicine are lacking.ConclusionsEnvironmental medicine is divided between integrative clinicians and occupational and environmental physicians based on their practice dynamics. All clinicians face challenges in assessing toxicant loads, and an exposure history is seen as the most useful tool. Standardised exposure assessment tools have the potential to significantly advance the clinical practice of environmental medicine and expand its reach across other clinical disciplines.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expert clinician’s perspectives on environmental medicine and toxicant assessment in clinical practice

Bijlsma

Cohen

2018

Environ Health Prev Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Im internationalen Vergleich erweist sich eine länderübergreifende Betrachtung des Feldes Umweltmedizin als schwierig, da sich die Einflüsse auf die Entwicklung umweltmedizinischer Strömungen zwar ähneln, die Institutionalisierung und der Umgang mit umweltmedizinischen Inhalten aber teilweise sehr verschieden sind. So existieren im englischsprachigen Raum sowohl der Begriff „environmental health“ als auch „environmental medicine“; Ersterer begreift sich eher als übergreifender Bereich mit Fokus auf Public Health, während Letzterer sich auf den klinischen Bereich der Umweltmedizin bezieht [ 35 ]. Die Abgrenzung ist aber unscharf, teilweise werden beide Begriffe synonym verwendet.…”

Section: Die Aufgabe Und Entwicklung Der Umweltmedizinunclassified

The implications of the concepts One Health and Planetary Health for the environmental medicine of the 21st century

Zschachlitz,

Kümpfel,

Niemann

et al. 2023

Bundesgesundheitsbl

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ZusammenfassungIm 21. Jahrhundert führt eine Anhäufung komplexer Krisen wie Klimawandel, Biodiversitätsverlust, Umweltverschmutzungen, Kriege und Pandemien zu ökonomischen, sozialen und gesundheitlichen Problemen für Menschen jetziger und zukünftiger Generationen. Diese Probleme sind im Wesentlichen auf die Missachtung natürlicher Regenerationskapazitäten von Ökosystemen zurückzuführen. Gesundheitsansätze wie One Health und Planetary Health haben seit Beginn der 2000er-Jahre an Popularität gewonnen und finden verstärkt Anwendung in der Politik, der Wissenschaft und in den Gesundheitsberufen. Auch die Umweltmedizin wird durch die wachsende Zahl von Krisen und Umweltproblemen sowie das zunehmende Interesse an den Konzepten One Health und Planetary Health beeinflusst.In diesem Diskussionsbeitrag wird zunächst die Entwicklung der beiden Konzepte dargestellt. Danach wird auf ihre Bedeutung für die Umweltmedizin eingegangen. Ärztinnen und Ärzte, die sich mit umweltmedizinischen Themen befassen, müssen bei der Beurteilung von Umwelteinflüssen heute sowohl lokale als auch globale Ursachen und Gesundheitseffekte bedenken, was Entscheidungen komplizierter machen und zu Zielkonflikten führen kann.

show abstract

“…Thus, in addition to environmental medicine, occupational medicine is still not fully been consolidated as a specialized branch of study in Albania, while the practices of some developed countries have included it in a department or student program such as Environmental Medicine and Occupational Medicine. However, even in developed countries many environmental medicine physicists are largely involved in public health practices and use primarily quantitative data management skills that focus more on populations than on the clinical paradigm that focuses on individuals [20].…”

Section: Laboratories Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

The Growing Relation between Environment and Public Health

Korançe

2021

SciMed. J.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction: Environmental health is deteriorating worldwide. Evidence shows that exposure to air, water and soil pollution has caused many deaths worldwide, a trend that is increasing day by day. Health consequences from exposure to environmental pollutants range from cancer, lung disease, heart disease and a series health problems which often lead to death. The majority of pollution related deaths happens mostly in low and middle-income countries. Environmental and pollution health related issues are not getting the attention they deserve in Albania. The main purpose of this article is to identify the relationship between environmental problems and public health consequences, by analysing public policies, case studies and instruments for measuring environmental health indicators. The article also presents suggestions regarding development of Environmental Medicine in Albania, and Public Health Tracking methods. Methods: Qualitative method is thoughtfully used in this article. Specifically, literature review methodology is used to identify environmental indicators that directly affect public health, adequate policies and instruments for the protection of public health, as well as environmental health at the international and national level. Qualitative method is used to reveal and evaluate the topic through multiple facets covering relevant contextual conditions. This method helps identifying the link between public and environment health indicators in a real-life situation, and to understand the relationship between these indicators in the Albanian context. Results and Discussion: Albania lacks a specific measurement system of Environmental Public Health Tracking, as well an established methodology for linking environmental and public health. Potential capacities for measuring environmental and health indicators are limited at the national level, thus, the public health policies do not clearly and fully integrate environmental health indicators for the protection of public health. Vocational training in health and environment is being practiced through various disciplines, but there is a need for specialized environmental medicine health professionals, with adequate competences in the field. Conclusions: The correlation between environment and public health is gaining attention nationally and globally. As in other countries, the need for Environmental Medicine professionals is growing also in Albania. Strong correlations between of environmental pollution indicators (air, water, land pollution) and public health indicators (such as infant and general mortality, morbidity rates, respiratory diseases, etc.) have increased in the last years. Use of instruments (such as EPHT), a fully integrated university curricula and a specific discipline of Environmental Medicine should be made a priority not only nationally, but also globally as environmental problems such as climate change do not recognize national borders. In order to manage the rising cases, states need to be resilient, and build appropriate research based policies and action plans to prevent the occurrence of environmental related public health consequences. Doi: 10.28991/SciMedJ-2021-0302-3 Full Text: PDF

show abstract

Editorial: The Future of Environmental Medicine in Environmental Health Perspectives : Where Should We Be Headed?

Cited by 5 publications

References 20 publications

Expert clinician’s perspectives on environmental medicine and toxicant assessment in clinical practice

Expert clinician’s perspectives on environmental medicine and toxicant assessment in clinical practice

The implications of the concepts One Health and Planetary Health for the environmental medicine of the 21st century

The Growing Relation between Environment and Public Health

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About