Integrating Health and our Environment

By Paul Johnson

We increasingly understand the link between the environment and our health.  It is becoming clear that at every level the physical environment plays a role in health, whether it be through nutrition, chemical exposures, air pollution or changes to the climate and the spread of infectious disease.  The list is long, and growing.  For example, we are now learning that noise pollution can have a negative impact on the hearing of young adults.  The earthquake in Haiti, one year ago, and the recent cholera outbreak there, highlight how the physical environment, overcrowding and poor access to clean water can have profound consequences for health, even at the population level.

As future physicians we have a duty to our patients and to society to understand how the environment influences health, and to use that information effectively at both a clinical and a policy level.  As students, we do not find environmental health in our medical curriculum, and it is often delegated to the field of public health.  However, our generation of medical students must ensure that they understand and are familiar with the interrelationship of the environment and our health for our own benefit as well as the benefit of our future patients.

The current issue of the Global Pulse Journal provides an excellent stepping stone for students interested in learning more about this topic.  The issue features an interview with physicians Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein, editors of Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity, as well as a review of that book, articles on pollution in China, solar power, tuberculosis and more. 

Engaging in debate and discussions of environmental issues with classmates is an important way to increase interest in and understanding of their relevance to health.  I encourage you to read and reflect upon the articles in this edition of the Global Pulse Journal, and to continue to read and write about your own experiences.  Sharing an account of a local water source in rural Africa linked to infectious disease, or research regarding chemical exposure and disease, can enlighten and engage your fellow students. 

Enjoy the new issue,

Paul D. Johnson, Editor-in-Chief