Review The Burden Of Environmentally-Related Diseases

Discussion Questions
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Discussion Questions
Part A
One of the major environmental concerns globally is air pollution, comprising both of indoor and outdoor pollution. The inhalation of the contaminated air contributes to many adverse health conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases that are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity. The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is among the conditions that are significantly aggravated by the exposure to air pollutants apart from cigarette smoke. COPD is a considerable public health burden globally and is one of the leading causes of deaths and morbidity across the developing and developed nations. About 65 million people across the globe have moderate-to-severe COPD (Liu et al., 2016).
The disease affects both females and males, but prevalence varies across the genders. In the United States, the incidence in women is higher than in men. As reported by Liu et al. (2016), more females died from COPD between 2000 and 2009 than males worldwide. Additionally, there is variation across ethnicity and races. For instance, in the US, the leading group was the non-Hispanic Whites followed by the African-Americans, then the Hispanics. The disease mostly affects people above 65 years and is lowest among 18-44-year-olds. Geographically, the COPD prevalence across the different regions worldwide varies significantly and is prevalent in developing nations due to industrial activity (Kelly & Fussell, 2015). Cape Town, South Africa has the highest rates for both females (16.7%), and males (22.2%) and the United States was ranked fifth (Liu et al., 2016). The COPD disease can occur at any time resulting from the exposure to air pollution, tobacco smoke, and second-hand smoke.
Part B
Household air pollution contributes to many health conditions that can cause death and a significant p...