Health
From time to time, major outbreaks of disease have swept around the world and caused massive loss of life. Some are caused by viruses. Others by bacteria. The most famous of them all is plague.
Three major outbreaks of plague have occurred in the past two thousand years. One, in the 6th century, is thought to have contributed to the final collapse of the Western Roman Empire. The second, in the 14th century, changed the course of European history and is known as the Black Death.
The pandemic began in China and reached Europe via the Silk Road. It was transmitted by rat fleas and was particularly virulent in the crowded cities which sprang up during the prosperous years of the previous century. Squalor, malnutrition and ill-health were major contributing factors … as in recent outbreaks.
Country dwellers were less at risk if they could achieve isolation from the outside world. One major city, Milan, escaped by establishing a vast cordon sanitaire around its borders. Anyone trying to enter from outside was shot.
Plague doctors wore distinctive clothing. The gown was made from heavy fabric or leather and was usually waxed. The beak contained pungent substances thought to purify the air and helpful in relieving the stench. The rod was to keep patients at a distance. The disease was called the Black Death because of the hideous discolouration of the skin that occurred soon after the victim became infected.
The Black Death took young and old but killed a disproportionate number of young people. They were not around to produce the next generation and populations continued to decline long after the pandemic had passed. In many counties, population levels shrank by two-thirds.
That changed the social and political map of Europe. Labour became more valuable than land because land has little value without labour to work it. That hit the landed aristocracy. The church suffered because many believed that it had failed to protect them from calamity.
The third pandemic, the Modern Plague, began in China in the 1860s and appeared in Hong Kong in 1894. Over the next 20 years, it was spread to port cities around the world by rats on steamships. It caused about 10 million deaths.
Other diseases have caused widespread deaths. In1918, an influenza pandemic struck populations whose health had been weakened by the deprivations of the First World War. It is estimated that the resulting deaths exceeded those killed by direct military action during the entire conflict.
In recent years, major pandemics have been averted by prompt action from national governments and international health agencies. A notable example is the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus which was successfully confined to a few regions and brought under control.
5.2 Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
The world thought it had found a magic bullet when Alexander Fleming discovered that a rare strain of the mould Penicillium notatum excreted a substance which inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus and other killer bacteria.
Fleming made the discovery in 1938 and penicillin went into production in time to be used during the Second World War. It is credited with saving tens-of-thousands of lives.
The war ended and the use of penicillin increased. But it’s reputation as a wonder drug began to fade. Penicillin wasn’t working as well as before and the reason soon became apparent.
Penicillin-resistant strains of bacteria were developing and the problem was particularly severe in hospitals with sloppy medical procedures. Ideally, when a patient is treated, all of the bacteria are eliminated. That’s important because any that remain are likely to be more penicillin-resistant than the others.
The survivors multiply and pass on their resistance to the next generation. It’s yet another case of survival of the fittest. If the process is allowed to continue, the bacteria lurking around the hospital will be super-resistant.
A favorite solution has been to hit the resistant strains with other antibiotic drugs. That works for a while but can have the highly undesirable effect of producing strains that are resistant to a wide variety of drugs.
Health authorities around the world have warned that a critical situation is developing. More magic bullets will not solve the problem. Stricter regulation of drugs is needed.
Caption: The image was created by Stephan Jeffrey and illustrates the present dilemma brilliantly. A doctor is trying to fight bacteria with a syringe and the bacteria are blunting his effort.
5.3 Falling Sperm Count in Males
Extensive studies, around the world, have shown that the average sperm count in human males has declined sharply over the past thirty years and is continuing on a downward trend.
The fall has been accompanied by a rise in testicular cancer and other disorders including undescended testes and malformed genitalia.
Reasons ranging from tight underwear to toxins in the environment have been advanced. A growing body of expert opinion points an accusing finger at toxins.
Pharmaceutical and other industries are producing vast quantities of substances that effect processes taking part in the human body and that of other animals.
The world has reached a situation where a twenty-year-old man has a much lower sperm-count than his fifty-year-old father. Something went wrong in his development.
Our body chemistry is similar to that of other vertebrates. We are not the only ones who are exhibiting disorders. That is seriously worrying!{i}
See Chapter 5.4: Precocious Puberty in Girls
5.4 Precocious Puberty in Girls
One of the features that characterises our species is our slow development relative to other creatures. We spend many years growing up physically and, during that time, our minds have time to take in a lot of ideas and gain skills. Now, that is changing … especially in girls.
At the beginning of the last century, the onset of menstruation in developed countries was typically 16-17 years. Since then it has fallen to less than thirteen and there is an alarmingly high incidence of girls entering puberty while still in kindergarten.
Toxins in the environment have been identified as the main cause. The big offenders are plastic compounds, especially phthalates. These man-made chemicals are present in plastic food and beverage containers, carpeting, shampoos, insect repellents, shower curtains, plastic toys and car interiors … to name a few places where they can be found.
Phthalates inhibit the correct functioning of our glands and hormones by interfering with the body’s endocrine system. We are raising our children in a sea of toxins and they are paying the price.
See Chapter 5.3: Falling Sperm Count in Males.
We all belong to the same species but we are not the same. Our ancestors’ lifestyles have influenced what we are. Those of us whose ancestors stayed in Africa have dark skins. Those whose ancestors hunted mammoths in the tundra of northern Eurasia have light skins.
The mammoth hunters wore warm clothes that covered their entire bodies. Very little of their skin was exposed to sunlight. That put the darker members of their family at a disadvantage. The body needs sunlight to make vitamin D. Without it, bones do not form properly.
Over many generations, the lighter-skinned mammoth hunters won out and their descendants became steadily lighter until their skins were almost transparent. People in northern Europe and northern Asia often have rosy complexions. That’s because you can see through their skins to the blood vessels below.
Sufferers from skin cancer are well-aware that having a light skin in a tropical climate is a distinct disadvantage. A dark skin is needed to cut out the harmful effects of ultra-violet light.
Light-skinned people in sunny countries need to know that it is dangerous to expose themselves to the sun. Dark-skinned people in cold climates need to know that their children may need vitamin D and calcium supplements to avoid rickets.
People with Irish ancestry need to know of the dangers of gluten intolerance. They might not suffer from it themselves but there is a higher than average risk that their children will be affected.
People with a natural resistance to malaria need to know that they carry a gene which could make their children vulnerable to sickle-cell anaemia. The anti-malaria gene is found in populations that have been exposed to malaria over many generations. It is beneficial when inherited from one parent but increases the risk of anaemia when inherited from both.
People on Pacific Islands need to be aware that their ancestors’ diet did not contain many of the foods found in modern supermarkets. They must watch what they eat or they will run a high risk of diabetes.
People whose ancestors did not consume alcohol need to be aware that they are far more susceptible to alcoholism than people from beer guzzling backgrounds.
Alcohol has created serious problems for Aboriginal Australians. One can only imagine that it caused similar havoc when introduced into the early farming and hunter-gatherer communities of Europe. In all probability, the people with a natural tolerance for booze won out against those who were sloshed and incapable most of the time.