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An important factor that influences. Factors influencing human health

Many people, when visiting a doctor, ask him a question: what affects human health. Some people turn to the doctor when they experience the first symptoms of illness, others try to find out in advance the main factors that negatively affect a person’s life.

What does human health depend on?

Human health largely depends on the environment in which he is located. People living near factories may suffer asthma attacks. People living in the city suffer from exhaust fumes and lack of fresh air.

There are a number of factors that have a great impact on human health

1. Ecology. The cleaner the environment, the better person feels himself. Unfortunately, every year the atmosphere becomes more and more polluted. This means that the person feels worse. To get their health in order, the population has to go annually on vacation to a sanatorium, where the air is cleaner and fresher thanks to the trees growing around the boarding house. People having country cottage area, are able to improve their health by relaxing every weekend outside the city.

2. Weather. Many women begin to suffer from changeable weather after childbirth. But most often people with problems with cardiovascular systems, as well as those who are often overworked at work, react to the weather.

3. Stress or any other nervous breakdown can affect a person’s health in a negative way at the most inopportune moment. A common cause of stress is overwork, as well as an uncomfortable environment in the workplace.

That is, if you are constantly in a stuffy room without air conditioning, your boss overloads you with overtime work not only on weekdays, but also on weekends, then after a while you will feel the first symptoms of a nervous breakdown.

4. Personal life plays a big role in a person’s well-being. It’s not for nothing that they say that love heals. An ardent feeling can bring almost any dying person back to life. If a person is happy in his personal life, he almost never gets sick. If a happy couple experiences a breakdown or breakup, the girl cannot come to her senses for some time. Sometimes she even gets sick for no apparent reason. If you look at it, there is an explanation for this.

A girl experiencing a crisis in a relationship becomes absent-minded and pays little attention not only to her appearance, but also to food. At times she forgets to eat, which leads to weight loss and weakened immunity. the basics of wellness.

5. Technique not only helps, but also provides harmful influence on some organs of human health. Let's take a computer for example. Since the Internet has firmly entered our lives, the number of happy owners of a treasured iron friend is growing every day. If a couple of years ago the age of the average user started from 15 years and above, now many 8-10 year old children confidently use a computer.

If the basic rules of working at a computer are not followed, after a while the user experiences vision problems, back and spine pain, as well as problems with the gastrointestinal tract.

6. Noise affects the well-being of the individual. Loud noises can cause headaches, stress, or bad mood. Working in noisy environments can cause hearing problems.

How to protect your own health

To protect yourself from external negative factors, you will have to give up a measured life. A job that evokes bad emotions will not only cause stress in the future, but also heart problems. Unresolved issues regarding your relationship with your other half can cause prolonged depression.

If you are at the computer all day, give your eyes a rest in the evening. The more you look at the monitor, the faster your vision “sits down.”

People with poor eyesight have a habit of squinting when looking at the monitor, which can later lead to headaches from constant tension. facial muscles. Place a cactus next to your computer so that it absorbs harmful radiation. Eat blueberries in your diet, which can relieve you of vision problems.

Doctors claim that alcohol, cigarettes and poor nutrition negatively affect human health.
Alcohol not only clouds your consciousness, but also reduces the number of years you live. Cigarettes can cause problems with the lungs and tooth color. Poor nutrition is the first step to weight gain. And along with extra pounds come shortness of breath, varicose veins and other troubles that interfere with living a happy life.

Thus, what affects human health is a system of actions aimed at improving the well-being of the individual.

A healthy person always gives birth to healthy offspring. If you don’t have enough time to take care of yourself, then think about what it will be like for your future child, suffering because you didn’t refuse to right moment from a bad habit?

In order to strengthen and maintain the health of healthy people, that is, to manage it, information is needed both about the conditions for the formation of health (the nature of the implementation of the gene pool, the state of the environment, lifestyle, etc.), and the final result of the processes of their reflection (specific indicators of the health status of the individual or population).

Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) in the 80s. XX century determined the approximate ratio of various factors to ensure the health of a modern person, identifying four groups of such factors as the main ones. Based on this, in 1994, the Interdepartmental Commission of the Security Council of the Russian Federation for the Protection of Public Health in the Federal Concepts “Protecting Public Health” and “Towards a Healthy Russia” defined this ratio in relation to our country as follows:

genetic factors - 15-20%;

environmental condition - 20-25%;

medical support - 10-15%;

conditions and lifestyle of people - 50-55%.

The magnitude of the contribution of individual factors of different nature to health indicators depends on the age, gender and individual typological characteristics of a person. The content of each health factor can be determined as follows (Table 11).

Let's take a closer look at each of these factors.

Table 11 - Factors influencing human health

Sphere of influence of factors
	Strengthening	Worsening
Genetic	Healthy heredity. Absence of morphofunctional prerequisites for the occurrence of the disease.	Hereditary diseases and disorders. Hereditary predisposition to diseases.
State of the environment Good living and working conditions, favorable climatic and natural conditions, environmentally friendly habitat. Harmful living and production conditions, unfavorable	Good living and working conditions, favorable climatic and natural conditions, environmentally friendly habitat.	Harmful living and production conditions, unfavorable climatic and natural conditions, violation of the environmental situation.
Medical support	Medical screening, high level of preventive measures, timely and comprehensive medical care.	Lack of permanent medical control behind the dynamics of health, low level primary prevention, poor quality medical care.
Conditions and lifestyle	Rational organization of life: sedentary lifestyle, adequate physical activity, social lifestyle.	Lack of a rational mode of life, migration processes, hypo- or hyperdynamia.

Genetic factors

The ontogenetic development of daughter organisms is predetermined by the hereditary program that they inherit with their parental chromosomes.

However, the chromosomes themselves and their structural elements - genes, can be subject to harmful influences, and, what is especially important, throughout the life of future parents. A girl is born with a certain set of eggs, which, as they mature, are successively prepared for fertilization. That is, in the end, everything that happens to a girl, girl, woman during her life before conception, to one degree or another, affects the quality of chromosomes and genes. The lifespan of a sperm is much shorter than that of an egg, but their life span is often enough to cause disturbances in their genetic apparatus. Thus, it becomes clear the responsibility that future parents bear to their offspring throughout their entire lives before conception.

Often, factors beyond their control also have an impact, which include unfavorable environmental conditions, complex socio-economic processes, uncontrolled use of pharmacological drugs, etc. The result is mutations leading to the occurrence of hereditary diseases or the appearance of a hereditary predisposition to them.

In the inherited preconditions of health, factors such as the type of morphofunctional constitution and characteristics of nervous and mental processes, the degree of predisposition to certain diseases are especially important.

A person’s life dominants and attitudes are largely determined by the human constitution. Such genetically determined characteristics include the dominant needs of a person, his abilities, interests, desires, predisposition to alcoholism and other bad habits, etc. Despite the significance of environmental and educational influences, the role of hereditary factors turns out to be decisive. This fully applies to various diseases.

This makes clear the need to take into account hereditary characteristics a person in determining the optimal lifestyle for him, choice of profession, partners for social contacts, treatment, the most suitable type of stress, etc. Often society makes demands on a person that conflict with the conditions necessary for the implementation of programs embedded in genes. As a result, in human ontogenesis, many contradictions constantly arise and are overcome between heredity and environment, between various systems of the body that determine its adaptation as an integral system, etc. In particular, this is of exceptional importance in choosing a profession, which is enough for our country relevant, since, for example, only about 3% of people employed in the national economy of the Russian Federation are satisfied with their chosen profession - apparently, the discrepancy between the inherited typology and the nature of the professional activity performed is not the least important here.

Heredity and environment act as etiological factors and play a role in the pathogenesis of any human disease, but the share of their participation in each disease is different, and the greater the share of one factor, the less the contribution of the other. From this point of view, all forms of pathology can be divided into four groups, between which there are no sharp boundaries.

The first group consists of hereditary diseases themselves, in which the etiological role is played by a pathological gene, the role of the environment is to modify only the manifestations of the disease. This group includes monogenically caused diseases (such as phenylketonuria, hemophilia), as well as chromosomal diseases. These diseases are transmitted from generation to generation through germ cells.

The second group is also hereditary diseases caused by a pathological mutation, but their manifestation requires specific environmental influences. In some cases, the “manifesting” effect of the environment is very obvious, and with the disappearance of the effect of the environmental factor, clinical manifestations become less pronounced. These are the manifestations of hemoglobin HbS deficiency in its heterozygous carriers with a reduced partial pressure of oxygen. In other cases (for example, with gout), long-term adverse environmental effects are necessary for the manifestation of a pathological gene.

The third group consists of an overwhelming number of common diseases, especially diseases of mature and old age (hypertension, gastric ulcer, most malignant tumors, etc.). The main etiological factor in their occurrence is the unfavorable influence of the environment, however, the implementation of the effect of the factor depends on the individual genetically determined predisposition of the body, and therefore these diseases are called multifactorial, or diseases with a hereditary predisposition.

It should be noted that various diseases with a hereditary predisposition are not the same in the relative role of heredity and environment. Among them, one could distinguish diseases with a weak, moderate and high degree of hereditary predisposition.

The fourth group of diseases are relatively few forms of pathology, in the occurrence of which environmental factors play an exceptional role. Usually this is an extreme environmental factor, against which the body has no means of defense (injuries, especially dangerous infections). Genetic factors in this case play a role in the course of the disease and influence its outcome.

Statistics show that in the structure of hereditary pathology, a predominant place belongs to diseases associated with lifestyle and the health of future parents and the mother during pregnancy.

Thus, there is no doubt about the significant role played by hereditary factors in ensuring human health. At the same time, in the overwhelming majority of cases, taking these factors into account through rationalizing a person’s lifestyle can make his life healthy and long-lasting. And, conversely, underestimation of a person’s typological characteristics leads to vulnerability and defenselessness in the face of unfavorable conditions and circumstances of life.

State of the environment

The biological characteristics of the body are the basis on which human health is based. The role of genetic factors is important in the formation of health. However, the genetic program received by a person ensures its development in the presence of certain environmental conditions.

"An organism without external environment, supporting its existence, is impossible” - in this thought I.M. Sechenov laid down the inextricable unity of man and his environment.

Each organism is in diverse mutual relationships with environmental factors, both abiotic (geophysical, geochemical) and biotic (living organisms of the same and other species).

The environment is usually understood as an integral system of interconnected natural and anthropogenic objects and phenomena in which people’s work, life and recreation take place. This concept includes social, natural and artificially created physical, chemical and biological factors, that is, everything that directly or indirectly affects human life, health and activity.

Man, as a living system, is an integral part of the biosphere. The human impact on the biosphere is associated not so much with his biological activity as with his labor activity. It is known that technical systems have a chemical and physical impact on the biosphere through the following channels:

through the atmosphere (the use and release of various gases disrupts natural gas exchange);

through the hydrosphere (pollution of rivers, seas and oceans with chemicals and oil);

through the lithosphere (use of minerals, soil pollution with industrial waste, etc.).

It is obvious that the results of technical activities influence those parameters of the biosphere that provide the possibility of life on the planet. Human life, as well as human society as a whole, is impossible without the environment, without nature. A person, as a living organism, has an inherent metabolism with the environment, which is the main condition for the existence of any living organism.

The human body is largely connected with the other components of the biosphere - plants, insects, microorganisms, etc., that is, its complex organism is included in the general cycle of substances and obeys its laws.

A continuous flow of atmospheric oxygen, drinking water, and food is absolutely necessary for human existence and biological activity. The human body is subject to daily and seasonal rhythms, reacts to seasonal changes ambient temperature, solar radiation intensity, etc.

At the same time, a person is part of a special social environment - society. Man is not only a biological being, but also a social one. The obvious social basis of human existence as an element of the social structure is the leading one, mediating its biological modes of existence and the performance of physiological functions.

The doctrine of the social essence of man shows that it is necessary to plan the creation of such social conditions his development, in which all his essential forces could unfold. In strategic terms, in optimizing living conditions and stabilizing human health, the most important thing is the development and introduction of a scientifically based general program for the development of biogeocenoses in an urbanized environment and improving the democratic form of social order.

Medical support

It is with this factor that most people pin their hopes for health, but the share of responsibility of this factor turns out to be unexpectedly low. The Great Medical Encyclopedia gives the following definition of medicine: “Medicine is a system scientific knowledge and practical activities, the purpose of which is to strengthen and prolong the lives of people, prevent and treat human diseases.”

As civilization developed and diseases became more widespread, medicine began to specialize more and more in the treatment of diseases and pay less attention to health. Treatment itself often reduces health due to the side effects of medications, that is, curative medicine does not always improve health.

There are three levels in medical morbidity prevention:

First-level prevention is aimed at the entire contingent of children and adults; its goal is to improve their health throughout their entire life cycle. The basis of primary prevention is the experience of formation means of prevention, development of recommendations for a healthy lifestyle, folk traditions and ways to maintain health, etc.;

Second-level medical prevention deals with identifying indicators of people’s constitutional predisposition and risk factors for many diseases, predicting the risk of diseases based on a combination of hereditary characteristics, life history and environmental factors. That is, this type of prevention is focused not on the treatment of specific diseases, but on their secondary prevention;

third-level prevention, or disease prevention, has as its main goal the prevention of relapses of diseases in patients on a population-wide scale.

The experience accumulated by medicine in the study of diseases, as well as the economic analysis of the costs of diagnosing and treating diseases, have convincingly demonstrated the relatively low social and economic effectiveness of disease prevention (level III prevention) for improving the level of health of both children and adults.

Obviously, the most effective should be primary and secondary prevention, which involve working with healthy people or people just starting to get sick. However, in medicine, almost all efforts are focused on tertiary prevention. Primary prevention involves close cooperation between the doctor and the population. However, the healthcare system itself does not provide him with the necessary time for this, so the doctor does not meet with the population on issues of prevention, and all contact with the patient is spent almost entirely on examination, examination and treatment. As for hygienists, who are closest to implementing the ideas of primary prevention, they are primarily concerned with providing a healthy living environment, rather than human health.

The ideology of an individual approach to issues of prevention and health promotion underlies the medical concept of universal medical examination. However, the technology for its implementation in practice turned out to be untenable for the following reasons:

requires a lot of tools to identify possible more diseases and their subsequent grouping into dispensary observation groups;

the dominant orientation is not towards prognosis (prediction of the future), but towards diagnosis (statement of the present);

the leading activity belongs not to the population, but to doctors;

a narrowly medical approach to health improvement without taking into account the diversity of socio-psychological characteristics of the individual.

Valeological analysis of the causes of health requires a shift in focus from medical aspects to physiology, psychology, sociology, cultural studies, to the spiritual sphere, as well as specific modes and technologies of training, education and physical training.

The dependence of human health on genetic and environmental factors makes it necessary to determine the place of the family, school, government, physical education organizations and health authorities in fulfilling one of the main tasks of social policy - the formation of a healthy lifestyle.

Conditions and lifestyle

Thus, it becomes clear that the diseases of modern man are caused, first of all, by his lifestyle and everyday behavior. Currently, a healthy lifestyle is considered as the basis for disease prevention. This is confirmed, for example, by the fact that in the USA, a decrease in infant mortality rates by 80% and mortality of the entire population by 94%, an increase in average life expectancy by 85% is associated not with the success of medicine, but with the improvement of living and working conditions and the rationalization of the life of the population. At the same time, in our country, 78% of men and 52% of women lead an unhealthy lifestyle.

In defining the concept of a healthy lifestyle, it is necessary to take into account two main factors - the genetic nature of a given person and its compliance with specific living conditions.

A healthy lifestyle is a way of life that corresponds to the genetically determined typological characteristics of a given person, specific living conditions and is aimed at the formation, preservation and strengthening of health and the full performance by a person of his socio-biological functions.

In the above definition of a healthy lifestyle, the emphasis is on the individualization of the concept itself, that is, there should be as many healthy lifestyles as there are people. In determining a healthy lifestyle for each person, it is necessary to take into account both his typological characteristics (type of higher nervous activity, morphofunctional type, predominant mechanism of autonomic regulation, etc.), as well as age, gender and the social environment in which he lives (family position, profession, traditions, working conditions, material support, life, etc.). Important place the initial premises should include the personal and motivational characteristics of a given person, his life guidelines, which in themselves can be a serious incentive to a healthy lifestyle and to the formation of its content and characteristics.

The formation of a healthy lifestyle is based on a number of key provisions:

An active carrier of a healthy lifestyle is a specific person as the subject and object of his life activity and social status.

In implementing a healthy lifestyle, a person acts in the unity of his biological and social principles.

The formation of a healthy lifestyle is based on a person’s personal and motivational attitude towards the embodiment of his social, physical, intellectual and mental capabilities and abilities.

A healthy lifestyle is the most effective means and method of ensuring health, primary prevention of diseases and satisfying vital health needs.

Quite often, unfortunately, the possibility of preserving and strengthening health through the use of some remedy that has miraculous properties is considered and proposed (physical activity of one kind or another, nutritional supplements, psychotraining, cleansing the body, etc.). It is obvious that the desire to achieve health through any one means is fundamentally wrong, since any of the proposed “panaceas” is not able to cover the whole variety of functional systems that form the human body, and the connections of man himself with nature - all that ultimately determines the harmony of his life and health.

According to E. N. Weiner, the structure of a healthy lifestyle should include the following factors: optimal motor mode, rational nutrition, rational lifestyle, psychophysiological regulation, psychosexual and sexual culture, immunity training and hardening, lack of bad habits and valeological education.

The new paradigm of health is clearly and constructively defined by academician N. M. Amosov: “To become healthy, you need your own efforts, constant and significant. Nothing can replace them."

A healthy lifestyle as a system consists of three main interconnected and interchangeable elements, three cultures: the culture of nutrition, the culture of movement and the culture of emotions.

Food culture. In a healthy lifestyle, nutrition is decisive and system-forming, as it has a positive effect on physical activity and emotional stability. With proper nutrition, food best matches the natural technologies for assimilation of nutrients developed during evolution.

Movement culture. Aerobic physical exercise (walking, jogging, swimming, skiing, gardening, etc.) has a healing effect. natural conditions. They include sun and air baths, cleansing and hardening water procedures.

Culture of emotions. Negative emotions (envy, anger, fear, etc.) have enormous destructive power, while positive emotions (laughter, joy, gratitude, etc.) maintain health and promote success.

Creating a healthy lifestyle is an extremely long process and can last a lifetime. Feedback from the changes occurring in the body as a result of following a healthy lifestyle does not work immediately; the positive effect of switching to a rational lifestyle is sometimes delayed for years. Therefore, unfortunately, quite often people only “try” the transition itself, but without getting quick results, they return to their previous lifestyle. There is nothing surprising. Since a healthy lifestyle involves giving up many pleasant conditions of life that have become habitual (overeating, comfort, alcohol, etc.) and, conversely, constant and regular heavy loads for a person who is not adapted to them and strict regulation of lifestyle. During the first period of transition to a healthy lifestyle, it is especially important to support a person in his aspirations, provide him with the necessary consultations, point out positive changes in his health, functional indicators, etc.

Currently, there is a paradox: despite an absolutely positive attitude towards the factors of a healthy lifestyle, especially in relation to nutrition and physical activity, in reality only 10%-15% of respondents use them. This is not due to a lack of valeological literacy, but due to low personal activity and behavioral passivity.

Thus, a healthy lifestyle should be purposefully and constantly developed throughout a person’s life, and not depend on circumstances and life situations.

The effectiveness of a healthy lifestyle for a given person can be determined by a number of biosocial criteria, including:

assessment of morphofunctional health indicators: level of physical development, level of physical fitness, level of human adaptive capabilities;

assessment of the immune system: number of colds and infectious diseases for a certain period;

assessment of adaptation to socio-economic living conditions (taking into account the effectiveness professional activity, successful activity and its “physiological value” and psychophysiological characteristics); activity in fulfilling family and household responsibilities; breadth and manifestation of social and personal interests;

assessment of the level of valeological literacy, including the degree of formation of an attitude toward a healthy lifestyle ( psychological aspect); level of valeological knowledge (pedagogical aspect); level of mastery of practical knowledge and skills related to maintaining and promoting health (medical-physiological and psychological-pedagogical aspects); the ability to independently build an individual health and healthy lifestyle program.

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Introduction

Throughout his life, a person is constantly exposed to a number of environmental factors - from environmental to social. In addition to individual biological characteristics, all of them directly affect his vital activity, health and, ultimately, life expectancy. Data shows that greatest influence lifestyle influences health. Almost half of all cases of disease depend on it. The second place in terms of impact on health is occupied by the state of a person’s living environment (at least one third of diseases are determined by adverse environmental influences). Heredity causes about 20% of diseases.

A healthy body constantly ensures the optimal functioning of all its systems in response to any changes in the environment. The preservation of optimal human life when interacting with the environment is determined by the fact that for his body there is a certain physiological limit of endurance in relation to any environmental factor, and beyond the limit this factor will inevitably have a depressing effect on human health. For example, as tests have shown, in urban environments, factors influencing health are divided into five main groups: living environment, occupational factors, social, biological and individual lifestyle.

It is of great concern that currently Russian Federation In terms of mortality and average life expectancy, it consistently ranks one of the last among industrialized countries.

1. Smoking

Smoking is the inhalation of smoke from drugs, mainly of plant origin, smoldering in the flow of inhaled air, in order to saturate the body with the substances contained in them active substances by their sublimation and subsequent absorption in the lungs and respiratory tract. Typically used for consumption smoking mixtures, which have narcotic properties due to the rapid flow of blood saturated with psychoactive substances into the brain.

Research has proven the harm of smoking. Tobacco smoke contains more than 30 toxic substances: Nicotine, Carbon dioxide, Carbon monoxide, Hydrocyanic acid, Ammonia, Resinous substances, Organic acids and others.

Statistics say: compared to non-smokers, long-term smokers are 13 times more likely to develop angina pectoris, 12 times more likely to develop myocardial infarction, and 10 times more likely to develop a stomach ulcer. Smokers account for 96 - 100 % of all patients with lung cancer. Every seventh long-term smoker suffers from obliterating endarteritis - a serious disease of the blood vessels.

Nicotine is a nerve poison. Experiments on animals and observations of humans have established that nicotine in small doses excites nerve cells, increases breathing and heart rate, causes heart rhythm disturbances, nausea and vomiting. In large doses, it inhibits and then paralyzes cell activity CNS, including vegetative. A disorder of the nervous system is manifested by decreased ability to work, trembling hands, and weakened memory.

Nicotine also affects the endocrine glands, in particular the adrenal glands, which release a hormone into the blood - Adrenaline, which causes vasospasm, increased blood pressure and increased heart rate. By adversely affecting the sex glands, nicotine contributes to the development of sexual weakness in men - impotence.

Smoking is especially harmful for children and adolescents. Not yet strong nervous and circulatory system react painfully to tobacco.

In addition to nicotine, other components also have a negative effect tobacco smoke. When carbon monoxide enters the body, oxygen starvation develops due to the fact that carbon monoxide combines more easily with hemoglobin than oxygen and is delivered with the blood to all human tissues and organs. Cancer occurs 20 times more often in smokers than in non-smokers. How longer person smokes, the more likely he is to die from this serious disease. Statistical studies have shown that smokers often develop cancerous tumors in other organs - the esophagus, stomach, larynx, and kidneys. Smokers often develop cancer of the lower lip due to the carcinogenic effect of the extract that accumulates in the mouthpiece of the pipe.

Very often, smoking leads to the development of chronic bronchitis, accompanied by persistent cough And unpleasant smell from mouth. As a result of chronic inflammation, the bronchi dilate, bronchiectasis is formed with severe consequences- pneumosclerosis leading to circulatory failure. Smokers often experience heart pain. This is due to spasm of the coronary vessels that supply the heart muscle with the development of angina pectoris (coronary heart failure). Myocardial infarction occurs 3 times more often in smokers than in non-smokers.

Smokers endanger not only themselves, but also those around them. The term “passive smoking” even appeared in medicine. In the body of non-smoking people, after being in a smoky and unventilated room, a significant concentration of nicotine is determined.

By countries and territories of the world providing relevant information to WHO, the prevalence of tobacco smoking among adults ranges from 4% in Libya to 54% in Nauru. The top ten countries in which tobacco smoking is most widespread include, in addition to Nauru, Guinea, Namibia, and Kenya. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mongolia, Yemen, Sao Tome and Principe, Turkey, Romania. Russia ranks 33rd in this series of 153 countries (37% of smokers among the adult population). However, despite the fact that, for example, the United States ranks 98th in this series (24%), cigarette consumption here on average per capita is higher than in many countries around the world with a higher prevalence of smoking among adults. If in the USA an average of about 6 cigarettes per capita are consumed daily (that is, including children and all non-smokers), then in Russia it is less than 5. And the highest level of per capita cigarette consumption is in Greece - almost 12 pieces per day per person.

2. Alcoholism

The thief of sanity is what alcohol has been called since ancient times. People learned about the intoxicating properties of alcoholic beverages no less than 8,000 years BC - with the advent of ceramic dishes, which made it possible to produce alcoholic beverages from honey, fruit juices and wild grapes. Perhaps winemaking arose even before the beginning of cultivated agriculture. So, famous traveler N.N. Miklouho-Maclay observed the Papuans of New Guinea, who did not yet know how to make fire, but already knew how to prepare intoxicating drinks. The Arabs began to obtain pure alcohol in the 6th-7th centuries and called it “al kogol”, which means “intoxicating”. The first bottle of vodka was made by the Arab Raghez in 860. Distilling wine to produce alcohol sharply worsened drunkenness. It is possible that this was the reason for the ban on the use of alcoholic beverages by the founder of Islam (Muslim religion) Muhammad (Mohammed, 570-632). This prohibition was subsequently included in the code of Muslim laws - the Koran (7th century). Since then, for 12 centuries, alcohol has not been consumed in Muslim countries, and apostates of this law (drunkards) have been severely punished.

But even in Asian countries, where the consumption of wine was prohibited by religion (the Koran), the cult of wine still flourished and was sung in poetry.

In the Middle Ages, Western Europe also learned to produce strong alcoholic beverages by sublimating wine and other fermenting sugary liquids. According to legend, this operation was first performed by the Italian monk alchemist Valentius. Having tried the newly received product and came into a strong state alcohol intoxication. The alchemist declared that he had discovered a miraculous elixir that makes an old man young, a tired man cheerful, and a sad man cheerful.

Since then, strong alcoholic drinks have quickly spread throughout the countries of the world, primarily due to the constantly growing industrial production of alcohol from cheap raw materials (potatoes, sugar production waste, etc.).

The spread of drunkenness in Rus' is associated with the policies of the ruling classes. An opinion was even created that drunkenness was supposedly an ancient tradition of the Russian people. At the same time, they referred to the words of the chronicle: “Fun in Rus' is to drink.” But this is slander against the Russian nation. Russian historian and ethnographer, expert on the customs and morals of the people, professor N.I. Kostomarov (1817-1885) completely refuted this opinion. He proved that in Ancient Rus' they drank very little. Only on selected holidays were they brewed mead, mash or beer, the strength of which did not exceed 5-10 degrees. The glass was passed around, and everyone took a few sips from it. No alcoholic drinks were allowed on weekdays, and drunkenness was considered the greatest shame and sin.

The problem of alcohol consumption is very relevant these days. Now the consumption of alcoholic beverages in the world is characterized by huge numbers. The whole society suffers from this, but first of all, the younger generation is at risk: children, adolescents, young people, as well as the health of expectant mothers. After all, alcohol has a particularly active effect on an unformed organism, gradually destroying it.

The harm of alcohol is obvious. It has been proven that when alcohol enters the body, it spreads through the blood to all organs and adversely affects them, even to the point of destruction.

With systematic alcohol consumption, it develops dangerous disease- alcoholism. Alcoholism is dangerous to human health, but it is treatable, like many other diseases.

But the main problem is that most of the alcoholic products produced by non-state enterprises contain a large number of toxic substances. Poor quality products often lead to poisoning and even death.

All this causes great damage to society and its cultural values.

The reasons for first starting to drink alcohol are varied. But they can be traced characteristic changes depending on age.

Until the age of 11, the first acquaintance with alcohol occurs either by accident, or it is given “for appetite”, “treated” with wine, or the child himself tries alcohol out of curiosity (a motive mainly characteristic of boys). At an older age, traditional reasons become the motives for drinking alcohol for the first time: “holiday”, “family celebration”, “guests”, etc. From the age of 14-15, reasons such as “it was inconvenient to lag behind the guys”, “friends persuaded me”, “for company”, “for courage”, etc. appear. Boys are characterized by all these groups of motives for their first acquaintance with alcohol. For girls, the second, “traditional” group of motives is mainly typical. Usually this happens, so to speak, an “innocent” drink in honor of a birthday or other celebration.

The second group of motives for alcohol consumption, which form drunkenness as a type of behavior of offenders, deserves special attention. These motives include the desire to get rid of boredom. In psychology, boredom is a special mental state of a person associated with emotional hunger. Adolescents in this category have significantly weakened or lost interest in cognitive activity. Teenagers who drink alcohol almost do not engage in social activities. Significant changes are observed in their leisure sphere. Finally, some teenagers drink alcohol to relieve stress and get rid of unpleasant experiences. A tense, anxious state may arise due to their certain position in the family or school community.

But not only teenagers drink alcohol regularly, and despite the widespread development of anti-alcohol propaganda, many adults are not even aware of the extent of the harm caused by alcohol to the body.

The fact is that there are many myths in everyday life about the benefits of alcoholic beverages. It is believed, for example, that alcohol has a healing effect, not only for colds, but also for a number of other diseases, including the gastrointestinal tract, for example, stomach ulcers. Doctors, on the contrary, believe that an ulcer patient should absolutely not drink alcohol. Where is the truth? After all, small doses of alcohol are really stimulate the appetite.

Or another popular belief among people: alcohol excites, invigorates, improves mood, well-being, makes conversation more lively and interesting, which is important for a group of young people. It is not for nothing that alcohol is taken “against fatigue”, when feeling unwell, and at almost all celebrations. Moreover, there is an opinion that alcohol is a high-calorie product that quickly provides the body’s energy needs, which is important, for example, during a hike, etc. And in beer and dry grape wines In addition, there is a whole range of vitamins and aromatic substances. In medical practice, the bacteriostatic properties of alcohol are used, using it for disinfection (for injections, etc.), preparing medicines, but not at all for treating diseases.

So, alcohol is taken to lift the mood, to warm the body, to prevent and treat diseases, in particular as a disinfectant, and also as a means of increasing appetite and an energetically valuable product. Is it really as useful as is commonly believed?

One of the Pirogov congresses of Russian doctors adopted a resolution on the dangers of alcohol: “ There is not a single organ in the human body that is not subjected to destructive action alcohol; alcohol does not have any such effect that could not be achieved by another medicinal agent acting more useful, safer and more reliable. No such painful condition, in which it is necessary to prescribe alcohol for any length of time.” So discussions about the benefits of alcohol are still just a common misconception.

Alcohol from the stomach enters the bloodstream two minutes after consumption. The blood carries it to all cells of the body. The cells of the cerebral hemispheres are primarily affected. The conditioned reflex activity of a person worsens, the formation of complex movements slows down, and the ratio of excitation and inhibition processes in the central nervous system changes. Under the influence of alcohol, voluntary movements are impaired, a person loses no ability to control oneself.

The penetration of alcohol into the cells of the frontal lobe of the cortex liberates a person’s emotions, unjustified joy, stupid laughter, and ease of judgment appear. Following increasing excitation in the cerebral cortex, a sharp weakening of inhibition processes occurs. The cortex ceases to control the work of the lower parts of the brain. A person loses restraint, modesty, he says and does things that he would never say or do if he were sober. Each new portion of alcohol increasingly paralyzes the higher nerve centers, as if connecting them and not allowing them to interfere with the activity of the lower parts of the brain: coordination of movements is disrupted, for example, eye movement (objects begin to double), and an awkward, staggering gait appears.

Disruption of the nervous system and internal organs is observed with any alcohol consumption: one-time, episodic and systematic.

It is known that disorders of the nervous system are directly related to the concentration of alcohol in a person’s blood. When the amount of alcohol is 0.04-0.05 percent, the cerebral cortex turns off, a person loses control over himself, and loses the ability to reason rationally. At a blood alcohol concentration of 0.1 percent, more than deep sections brain that controls movement. A person’s movements become uncertain and are accompanied by causeless joy, animation, and fussiness. However, in 15 percent of people, alcohol can cause depression and a desire to fall asleep. As the alcohol content in the blood increases, a person’s ability to hear and visual perception is weakened, and the speed of motor reactions is dulled. An alcohol concentration of 0.2 percent affects areas of the brain that control emotional behavior. At the same time, base instincts awaken and sudden aggressiveness appears. With a blood alcohol concentration of 0.3 percent, a person, although conscious, does not understand what he sees and hears. This condition is called alcoholic stupor.

Systematic, excessive consumption of alcohol can cause Another disease is alcoholism.

Alcoholism - regular, compulsive consumption large quantity alcohol over a long period of time. Let's get acquainted with what alcohol can do to our body.

Blood. Alcohol inhibits the production of platelets, as well as white and red blood cells. Result: anemia, infections, bleeding.

Brain. Alcohol slows down blood circulation in the vessels of the brain, leading to constant oxygen starvation its cells, resulting in weakening of memory and slow mental degradation. Early sclerotic changes develop in the vessels, and the risk of cerebral hemorrhage increases.

Heart. Alcohol abuse causes increased blood cholesterol levels, persistent hypertension and myocardial dystrophy. Cardiovascular failure puts the patient on the brink of the grave. Alcoholic myopathy: muscle degeneration resulting from alcoholism. The reasons for this are lack of use of muscles, poor diet and alcohol damage to the nervous system. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy affects the heart muscle.

Intestines. Constant exposure to alcohol on the wall small intestine leads to a change in the structure of cells, and they lose the ability to fully absorb nutrients and mineral components, which ends in depletion of the alcoholic’s body. Constant inflammation of the stomach and later intestines causes ulcers of the digestive organs.

Liver. This organ suffers the most from alcohol: an inflammatory process occurs (hepatitis), and then scar degeneration (cirrhosis). The liver ceases to perform its function of disinfecting toxic metabolic products, producing blood proteins and other important functions, which leads to the inevitable death of the patient. Cirrhosis is an insidious disease: it slowly creeps up on a person, and then strikes, and immediately leads to death. The cause of the disease is the toxic effects of alcohol.

Pancreas. Patients suffering from alcoholism are 10 times more likely to develop diabetes than non-drinkers: alcohol destroys the pancreas, the organ that produces insulin, and profoundly distorts metabolism.

Leather. A drinking person almost always looks older than his age: his skin very soon loses its elasticity and ages prematurely.

3. Drug addiction

A drug is any chemical compound, which affects the functioning of the body. Drug addiction (this word is derived from the Greek narkз - stupor, sleep + mania, madness, passion, attraction) - chronic diseases caused by the abuse of medicinal or non-medicinal drugs. This is dependence on intoxicating substances, a state of mental and physical dependence on an intoxicating substance that acts on the central nervous system, changing tolerance to the drug with a tendency to increase doses and the development of physical dependence.

It may seem that drugs appeared not so long ago, due to the development of chemistry, medicine and other sciences, as well as the rapid scientific and technological progress. However, it is not. Drugs have been known to people for several thousand years. They were consumed by people of different cultures and for different purposes: during religious rituals, to restore strength, to change consciousness, to relieve pain and discomfort. Already in the pre-literate period, we have evidence that people knew and used psychoactive chemicals: alcohol and plants, the consumption of which affects consciousness. Archaeological research has shown that as early as 6400 BC. people knew beer and some other alcoholic drinks. Obviously, fermentation processes were discovered by accident (grape wine, by the way, appeared only in the 4th-3rd centuries BC). The first written evidence of the use of intoxicants is the story of Noah's drunkenness from the Book of Genesis. Various plants were also used to cause physiological and mental changes, usually in religious rites or during medical procedures.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, there were virtually no restrictions on the production and consumption of drugs. Attempts were sometimes made to reduce or ban the use of certain substances altogether, but these were short-lived and generally unsuccessful. For example, tobacco, coffee and tea were initially met with hostility by Europe. The first European to smoke tobacco, Columbus's companion Rodrigo de Jerez, was imprisoned upon arrival in Spain because the authorities decided that the devil had possessed him. There have been several attempts to outlaw coffee and tea. There are also cases where the state did not prohibit drugs, but rather promoted the flourishing of their trade. The best example is the armed conflicts between Great Britain and China in the mid-19th century. They are called the Opium Wars because English traders brought opium into China. By the mid-19th century, several million Chinese were addicted to opium. At this time, China, of course, came out on top in the world in the consumption of opium, most of which was grown in India and transported to the country by the British. The Chinese government passed many laws to control the import of opium, but none of them had the desired effect.

People don't become drug addicts right away. Much depends on the individual characteristics of the person taking the drugs. In some cases, addiction to herbal and chemical preparations occurs almost from the first time, while in others it takes weeks, months and even years. There are a variety of judgments about the personality typology of drug users, each of which has the right to independent existence. Below are the conclusions of one of the personality theories of drug users, the founders of which are E.A. Babayan and A.N. Sergeev. The category of people under consideration includes five conditional groups, including:

1. Experimenters. The largest population of all five groups. This includes people who did not return to this harmful activity after their first acquaintance with drugs.

2. Occasional consumers. These include mainly those who resort to drugs due to current circumstances. Let’s say that in a dubious company, a young man, fearing to be branded as a “black sheep,” boldly rolls up his shirt sleeve to inject heroin. Outside of these or other circumstances, these people do not have a desire to take drugs.

3. Systematic consumers. They take drugs according to a certain pattern. For example, on your birthday, on the occasion of achieving a significant result at work, once a quarter, etc. It is naive to believe that this self-deception will remain without any negative consequences for the psyche and physiology.

4. Regular consumers. Sequentially formed from the first three groups. They are often psychologically dependent on drugs and, because of this, are forced to take drugs not only on the occasion of a “significant event,” but because of the formation of a habit.

5. Patients with drug addiction. The last group is a natural result of taking drugs without a doctor’s prescription. Individuals included in it are often dependent on drugs not only mentally, but also physically. According to some estimates, up to 0.5 million people in Russia can be classified as drug addicts.

The first four groups are so-called behavioral and require, first of all, educational measures, but the fifth group really needs not only qualified treatment, but also social rehabilitation.

As can be seen from the outpatient records of minor drug users, 11.4% of children have less than 1 year of experience using intoxicating substances, 46.7% of children from 1 to 2 years, and 46.7% from 3 to 5 years. 36.3%, over 5 years - within 1% of adolescents. The average duration of non-medical drug use is 2.3 years. Just five years ago, this figure did not exceed 0.6-1.5 years, and ten years ago it was measured in days, or even hours. The weighted average time interval between the onset of drug use and registration at a drug treatment clinic is 1.2 years (previously - 0.3-0.5 years).

A change in the way drugs are taken is that intravenous drug use is becoming more common among children. This trend has particularly affected street youth.

For clarity, we will consider two groups of drug users - school students who are not under the supervision of a narcologist, but have experience in non-medical drug use, and established patients at a drug treatment clinic.

From the table below you can see the qualitative difference between both groups of drug users.

It lies in the commitment of schoolchildren to smoking cannabis derivatives, while street teenagers who have become the objects of attention of drug addiction doctors are much more likely to use a syringe, inhale toxic substances and cocaine (15.5 and 5.2 times, respectively).

Table 1. Methods of drug use among adolescents

The information presented shows that the pattern of gradual and inevitable transition of minors from the use of so-called “soft” drugs to “hard” or “hard” drugs acquires characteristics accelerated over time.

When we talk about drug addiction and the study of the pathogenesis of these diseases, we must clearly understand that this disease is very complex.

The effects of drugs can be divided into three groups:

The first group is the effect on certain brain structures, causing the development of addiction syndrome;

Secondly, drugs have a lot of toxic effects on almost all organs and systems: heart, liver, stomach, brain, etc.

And finally, the third group, which we consider very important, is the influence on the offspring. It has now been proven that children born to parents with drug addiction have an increased biological risk of drug addiction and most of them exhibit all sorts of behavioral changes: aggressiveness, increased excitability, psychopathy, depression. In addition, drug use leads to the birth of a child with addiction syndrome.

More and more evidence is accumulating that parental drug abuse has a definite impact on the offspring, and even for more than one generation. This is a very important question. For example, “fetal drug syndrome” is a disease that occurs when a mother uses drugs during pregnancy that directly affect the fetus. This organic pathology of the brain can be expressed to varying degrees: certain characteristic changes in the skull, dementia, etc. In addition, these children have widespread functional changes nervous system (hyperexcitability, emotional instability to depressive reactions, etc.). In Lvov, a survey was conducted of children born to fathers and mothers with drug addiction. These children were divided into two age groups: one included children under 25 years old, the other - over 25 years old.

In children of group 1, born to fathers of drug addicts, neurotic reactions (33%), attention deficit (19%), bedwetting (9%), mental retardation (10%), and somatic pathology (38%) were found. Only 25% were healthy. There were 75% of children with certain disabilities (Table 2).

Table 2. Frequency of mental and somatic disorders in children born to parents who are drug addicts, %

Note: one child could have a combination of several signs, so their totality exceeds 100%.

The results of the examination of children of the second group are shown in Table 2.

Table 3. Frequency of psychopathology in adult children born to parents with drug addiction, %

Adult children	Psychopathology
alcoholism	substance abuse	depression	psychopathy	suicide attempts	addiction

Note: The same person could have several diseases, so their sum exceeds 100%.

4. Radiation

The fact that radiation has a detrimental effect on human health is no longer a secret. When radioactive radiation passes through the human body or when infected substances enter the body, the energy of waves and particles is transferred to our tissues, and from them to cells. As a result, the atoms and molecules that make up the body become excited, which leads to disruption of their activity and even death. It all depends on the dose of radiation received, the state of health of the person and the duration of exposure.

There are no barriers to ionizing radiation in the body, so any molecule can be exposed to radioactive effects, the consequences of which can be very diverse. Excitation of individual atoms can lead to the degeneration of some substances into others, cause biochemical changes, genetic disorders and so on. Proteins or fats that are vital for normal cellular activity may be affected. Thus, radiation affects the body at a micro level, causing damage that is not immediately noticeable, but manifests itself after many years. Damage to certain groups of proteins found in a cell can cause cancer, as well as genetic mutations transmitted over several generations. The effects of low doses of radiation are very difficult to detect, because the effects take decades to appear.

Table 4

Absorbed dose value, rad	Degree of human exposure
10000 rad (100 Gy.)	Lethal dose, death occurs within a few hours or days from damage to the central nervous system.
1000 - 5000 rad (10-50 Gy.)	Lethal dose, death occurs after one to two weeks from internal bleeding (thin cell membranes), mainly in the gastrointestinal tract.
300-500 rad (3-5 Gr.)	Lethal dose, half of those exposed die within one to two months from damage to bone marrow cells.
150-200 rad (1.5-2 Gy.)	Primary radiation sickness(sclerotic process, changes in the reproductive system, cataracts, immune diseases, cancer). The severity and symptoms depend on the dose of radiation and the type of radiation.
100 rad (1 Gy)	Short-term sterilization: loss of the ability to have offspring.
	Irradiation during X-ray of the stomach (local).
25 rad (0.25 Gy.)	A dose of justifiable risk in emergency circumstances.
10 rad (0.1 Gy.)	The probability of mutation increases by 2 times.
	Radiation during dental x-rays.
2 rad (0.02 Gy) per year	The radiation dose received by personnel working with a source of ionizing radiation.
0.2 rad (0.002 Gy or 200 millirad) per year	The radiation dose received by employees of industrial enterprises and radiation and nuclear technology facilities.
0.1 rad (0.001 Gy) per year	Radiation dose received by the average Russian.
0.1-0.2 rad per year	Natural radiation background of the Earth.
84 microrad/hour	Flight on an airplane at an altitude of 8 km.
1 microrad	Watching one hockey match on TV.

Harm from radioactive elements and the effects of radiation on human body is actively studied by scientists all over the world. It has been proven that daily emissions from nuclear power plants contain the radionuclide “Cesium-137”, which when ingested into the human body causes sarcoma (a type of cancer), “Strontium-90” replaces calcium in bones and breast milk, which leads to leukemia (blood cancer) , bone and breast cancer. And even low doses of Krypton-85 radiation significantly increase the likelihood of developing skin cancer.

Scientists note that people living in large cities are most exposed to radiation, because in addition to the natural radiation background, they are also exposed to building materials, food, air, and contaminated objects. Constant excess above the natural radiation background leads to early aging, weakened vision and immune system, excessive psychological excitability, hypertension and the development of abnormalities in children.

Even the smallest doses of radiation cause irreversible genetic changes that are passed on from generation to generation, leading to the development of Down syndrome, epilepsy, and other defects of mental and physical development. What is especially scary is that both food and household items are exposed to radiation contamination. IN Lately Cases of seizure of counterfeit and low-quality products, which are a powerful source of ionizing radiation, have become more frequent. Even children's toys are made radioactive! What kind of health of the nation can we talk about?!

A large amount of information has been obtained by analyzing the results of the use of radiation therapy to treat cancer. Many years of experience have allowed doctors to obtain extensive information about the reaction of human tissue to radiation. This reaction turned out to be different for different organs and tissues, and the differences are very large. Most organs manage to heal radiation damage to one degree or another and therefore tolerate a series of small doses better than the same total radiation dose received at one time.

Red bone marrow and other elements of the hematopoietic system are most vulnerable to irradiation. Fortunately, they also have a remarkable ability to regenerate, and if the radiation dose is not so high as to cause damage to all cells, hematopoietic system can fully restore its functions. If not the whole body, but some part of it, was irradiated, then the surviving brain cells are sufficient to completely replace the damaged cells.

Reproductive organs and eyes are also highly sensitive to radiation. A single irradiation of the testes at a minimum dose leads to temporary sterility in men, and a slightly higher dose is enough to lead to permanent sterility: only after many years the testes can again produce full-fledged sperm. Apparently the testes are the only exception to this general rule: The total radiation dose received in several doses is more, not less, dangerous for them than the same dose received in one dose. The ovaries are much less sensitive to the effects of radiation, at least in adult women.

The most vulnerable part of the eye is the lens. Dead cells become opaque, and the proliferation of clouded areas leads first to cataracts and then to complete blindness. The higher the dose, the greater the loss of vision.

Children are also extremely sensitive to the effects of radiation. Relatively small doses when irradiating cartilage tissue can slow down or even stop bone growth, which leads to abnormalities in skeletal development. How younger age child, the more bone growth is inhibited. It also turned out that irradiation of a child's brain during radiation therapy can cause changes in his character, lead to memory loss, and in very young children even to dementia and idiocy. The bones and brain of an adult can withstand much larger doses.

The fetal brain is also extremely sensitive to radiation, especially if the mother is exposed to radiation between the eighth and fifteenth weeks of pregnancy. During this period, the cerebral cortex is formed in the fetus, and there is a high risk that as a result of maternal irradiation (for example, X-rays) the child will be born mentally retarded child. This is exactly how approximately 30 children who were irradiated in utero during the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki suffered. Although the individual risk is great and the consequences particularly distressing, the number of women in this stage of pregnancy at any one time represents only a small proportion of the total population. This, however, is the most serious effect of all known effects of irradiation of a human fetus, although many other serious consequences have been discovered after irradiation of animal embryos during their prenatal development, including malformations, underdevelopment and death.

Most adult tissues are relatively little sensitive to the effects of radiation. Kidneys, liver, bladder, mature cartilage tissue are the most radiation-resistant organs. The lungs, an extremely complex organ, are much more vulnerable, and in the blood vessels subtle but possibly significant changes can occur at relatively low doses.

Studying the genetic effects of radiation poses even greater challenges than in the case of cancer. Firstly, little is known about what damage occurs in the human genetic apparatus during irradiation; secondly, complete identification of all hereditary defects occurs only over many generations; and thirdly, as in the case of cancer, these defects cannot be distinguished from those arising from other causes.

About 10% of all living newborns have some kind of genetic defect, ranging from mild physical disabilities such as color blindness to such severe conditions as Down syndrome, Huntington's chorea and various malformations. Many of the embryos and fetuses with severe hereditary disorders do not live to see birth; According to available data, about half of all cases of spontaneous abortion are associated with abnormalities in the genetic material. But even if children with hereditary defects are born alive, they are five times less likely to survive to their first birthday than normal children.

Genetic disorders can be classified into two main types: chromosomal aberrations, which include changes in the number or structure of chromosomes, and mutations in the genes themselves. Gene mutations are further divided into dominant (which appear immediately in the first generation) and recessive (which can only appear if the same gene is mutant in both parents; such mutations may not appear for many generations or not be detected at all). Both types of anomalies can lead to hereditary diseases in subsequent generations, or may not appear at all.

Among more than 27,000 children whose parents received relatively large doses during the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, only two probable mutations were found, and among about the same number of children whose parents received smaller doses, not a single such case was observed. Among children whose parents were irradiated as a result of an atomic bomb explosion, there was also no statistically significant increase in the frequency of chromosomal abnormalities. And although some studies have concluded that exposed parents are more likely to have a child with Down syndrome, other studies do not confirm this.

5. The influence of chemical elements on human health

Global air pollution is accompanied by a deterioration in the health of the population. At the same time, the problem of quantitative assessment of the impact of these pollutants has not yet been completely resolved. For the most part, the negative impact is mediated through trophic chains, since the bulk of pollution falls on the surface of the earth (solids) or is washed out of the atmosphere through precipitation. Except in emergency situations, changes in health status can be quite difficult to link to a specific xenobiotic released into the air. In addition to the etiological factor, the extent of damage to people is significantly influenced by meteorological conditions that promote or prevent the dispersion of harmful substances.

Chronic poisonings are quite common, but they are rarely reported. A statistically significant dependence on atmospheric air pollution has been established for diseases of bronchitis gradually developing into such a complex disease as bronchial asthma, pneumonia, emphysema, as well as for acute respiratory diseases. Atmospheric air pollution affects the body's resistance, which manifests itself in the growth of infectious diseases. There is reliable information about the effect of pollution on the duration of diseases. Thus, respiratory disease in children living in contaminated areas lasts 2-2.5 times longer than in children living in relatively clean areas. Numerous studies conducted in recent years indicate that children living in areas with high levels of air pollution have a low level of physical development, which is often assessed as disharmonious. The observed lag in the level of biological development from the passport age indicates a very unfavorable effect of air pollution on the health of the younger generation. Air pollution has the greatest impact on health indicators in urban centers, in particular in cities with developed metallurgical, processing and coal industries. The territories of such cities are affected by both nonspecific pollutants (dust, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, soot, nitrogen dioxide) and specific ones (fluorine, phenol, metals, etc.). Moreover, in the total volume of atmospheric air pollution, nonspecific pollutants account for over 95%.

The danger of the influence of polluted atmospheric air on public health is caused by the objective effect of the following factors:

1) Variety of contaminants. It is estimated that a person living in an industrial area could potentially be exposed to several hundred thousand chemicals. As a rule, in a particular area there is actually limited number chemicals in relatively high concentrations. However, the combined effects of atmospheric pollutants can lead to an increase in the toxic effects they cause.

2) The possibility of massive exposure, since breathing is continuous and a person inhales up to 20 thousand liters of air per day. Even minor concentrations of chemicals with such a volume of breathing can lead to a toxically significant intake of harmful substances into the body.

3) Direct access of pollutants to the internal environment of the body. The lungs have a surface area of about 100 m2; when breathing, the air comes into almost direct contact with the blood, in which almost everything that is present in the air is dissolved. From the lungs, blood enters the systemic circulation, bypassing the detoxification barrier such as the liver. It has been established that poison received by inhalation is often 80-100 times stronger than when entering through the gastrointestinal tract.

4) Difficulty in protecting against xenobiotics. A person who refuses to eat contaminated food or poor-quality water cannot help but breathe polluted air. Moreover, the pollutant affects all groups of the population around the clock.

In all territories with high levels atmospheric air pollution, morbidity as one of the health indicators is higher than in relatively clean areas. Thus, in the Dorogobuzh district of the Smolensk region, in the bodies of children and women who do not have professional stress, an accumulation of elements contained in the emissions of the Dorogobuzh industrial hub (chrome, nickel, titanium, copper, aluminum) was noted. As a result, the incidence of children with respiratory diseases was 1.8 times higher and with neurological diseases 1.9 times higher than in a relatively clean area.

In Tolyatti, children living in the zone influenced by emissions from the Northern industrial hub were 2.4-8.8 times more likely to suffer from diseases of the upper respiratory tract and bronchial asthma than children living in a relatively clean area.

In Saransk, the population living in the area adjacent to the antibiotic production enterprise has a specific allergization of the body to antibiotics and candida antigen.

In the cities of the Chelyabinsk region, where more than 80% of emissions are caused by ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises, there is an increased incidence of diseases in children and adults endocrine system, blood, respiratory organs, and are also observed congenital anomalies in children and adults, complications of pregnancy and childbirth, skin diseases and malignant neoplasms.

IN rural areas In the Rostov region, in areas with high pesticide loads (up to 20 kg/ha), the prevalence of circulatory diseases in children increased by 113%, bronchial asthma by 95%, and congenital anomalies by 55%.

The most important sources of chemical pollution of the environment in Russia are industrial enterprises, automobile transport, thermal and nuclear power plants. In cities, poorly disposed municipal waste also makes a significant contribution to environmental pollution, and in rural areas - pesticides and mineral fertilizers, contaminated wastewater from livestock farms.

Atmospheric pollution primarily affects the body's resistance, the reduction of which results in increased morbidity, as well as other physiological changes in the body. Compared to other sources of chemical pollution (food, drinking water), atmospheric air is particularly dangerous because there is no chemical barrier in its path, like the liver, when pollutants penetrate through the gastrointestinal tract.

The main sources of soil pollution are chemical leaks, the deposition of airborne pollutants on the soil, excessive use of chemicals in agriculture, and improper storage, storage and disposal of liquid and solid waste.

In Russia as a whole, soil contamination with pesticides is about 7.25%. The regions with the greatest contamination include the soils of the North Caucasus, Primorsky Territory and the Central Black Earth regions, the regions with moderate contamination include the soils of the Kurgan and Omsk regions, the Middle Volga region, and the territories with slight contamination include the soils of the Upper Volga region, Western Siberia, Irkutsk and Moscow regions.

Currently, almost all water bodies in Russia are subject to anthropogenic pollution. The water of most rivers and lakes exceeds the maximum permissible concentration for at least one pollutant. According to the State Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision of Russia, drinking water in more than 30% of water bodies does not comply with GOST.

Water and soil pollution, as well as air pollution, is a serious problem in Russia. Their increasing pollution with toxic chemicals, such as heavy metals and dioxins, as well as nitrates and pesticides, has a direct impact on the quality of food, drinking water and, as a direct consequence, on health.

optimal cigarette nicotine

Bibliography

“Fundamentals of radiation safety”, V.P. Mashkovich, A.M. Panchenko.

“When a person is his own enemy” G.M. Entin.

Lifestyle textbook, grades 10-11, V.Ya. Syunkov Publishing house "Astrel", 2002.

“Drugs and drug addiction” N.B. Serdyukova stov n/a: Phoenix, 2000. - “Panacea Series” - Ro-256s.

Journal “Fundamentals of Life Safety”. No. 10, 2002, pp. 20-26.

8. Ivanets N.N. Lectures on addiction. "Knowledge", Moscow, 2000.

9. Belogurov S.B. Popular about drugs and drug addiction. - 2nd ed., rev. and additional - St. Petersburg: “Nevsky Dialect”, 2000.

Posted on Allbest.ru

Factors that positively affect health

Rejection of bad habits
balanced diet
State of the environment
physical activity
hardening
Personal hygiene
daily regime

Balanced diet. Is an important component metabolic processes in the body, provides it with the necessary energy, without which physical activity is completely impossible. Food should provide our body with everything essential vitamins and minerals. All these substances are simply necessary to ensure proper functioning. The effectiveness of food intake is influenced by the following factors:

Origin of products. They must contain only natural ingredients.
The number of calories contained in products must correspond to the physical and intellectual stress of a person.
Eating should be done only when necessary, and not when there is a desire to try something tasty.

If at least one recommendation is violated, there is a possibility of a malfunction in the activity of the entire body or certain organs. As a result, health will deteriorate and immunity will decrease, the person will not be able to work productively. Most often, the result poor nutrition is overweight, the appearance of diabetes, the occurrence of many other diseases.

Physical activity ensures muscle tone and proper functioning of all organs. Sport is strictly connected with the science of a healthy lifestyle; without it there can be no talk of healthy body and excellent figure condition. The condition of the muscular, respiratory, nervous and all other components of the body depends on sports loads. Systematic exercises help improve a person’s overall image; the figure becomes slender and graceful.

Rejection of bad habits. One of the most important factors for maintaining health is the eradication of bad habits (smoking, alcohol, drugs). These health problems cause many diseases, sharply reduce life expectancy, reduce productivity, and have a detrimental effect on the health of the younger generation and the health of future children.

Hardening- a mandatory element of physical education, especially important for young people, as it has great importance to improve health, increase performance, improve well-being, mood and vigor. Hardening, as a factor in increasing the body's resistance to various meteorological conditions, has been used since ancient times.

An important element of a healthy lifestyle is personal hygiene. It includes a rational daily regimen, body care, hygiene of clothes and shoes. Of particular importance is daily regime. When followed correctly and strictly, a clear rhythm of the body’s functioning is developed. And this, in turn, creates better conditions for work and recovery.

If you adhere to the basic principles of a healthy lifestyle, you can be rewarded with a bright and painless future, harmony of soul and body.

By discipline:

Basics of medical knowledge and healthy lifestyle

« Factors influencing health. The role of various factors in promoting health."

Smirnova Elena Andreevna.

Psychology faculty. 1 course.

Address: Novosibirsk region,

Vengerovsky district,

Vengerovo village, st. Herzen 14

Harmful factors affecting human health

Alcohol

The harm of alcohol is obvious. It has been proven that when alcohol enters the body, it spreads through the blood to all organs and adversely affects them, even to the point of destruction.

With systematic alcohol consumption, a dangerous disease develops - alcoholism. Alcoholism is dangerous to human health, but it is treatable, like many other diseases.

But the main problem is that most of the alcoholic beverages produced by non-state enterprises contain large amounts of toxic substances. Poor quality products often lead to poisoning and even death.

All this causes great damage to society and its cultural values.

The effect of alcohol on the nervous system.

“Dysfunction of the nervous system and internal organs is observed with any alcohol consumption: one-time, episodic and systematic.”

It is known that disorders of the nervous system are directly related to the concentration of alcohol in a person’s blood. When the amount of alcohol is 0.04-0.05 percent, the cerebral cortex turns off, a person loses control over himself, and loses the ability to reason rationally. At a blood alcohol concentration of 0.1 percent, the deeper parts of the brain that control movement are inhibited. A person’s movements become uncertain and are accompanied by causeless joy, animation, and fussiness. However, in 15 percent of people, alcohol can cause depression and a desire to fall asleep. As the alcohol content in the blood increases, a person’s ability to hear and visual perception is weakened, and the speed of motor reactions is dulled. An alcohol concentration of 0.2 percent affects areas of the brain that control emotional behavior. At the same time, base instincts awaken and sudden aggressiveness appears. With a blood alcohol concentration of 0.3 percent, a person, although conscious, does not understand what he sees and hears. This condition is called alcoholic stupor.

The harm of alcohol

Systematic, excessive consumption of alcohol can cause serious illness - alcoholism.

Alcoholism is the regular, compulsive consumption of large amounts of alcohol over a long period of time. Let's get acquainted with what alcohol can do to our body.

Blood. Alcohol inhibits the production of platelets, as well as white and red blood cells. Result: anemia, infections, bleeding.

Brain. Alcohol slows down blood circulation in the vessels of the brain, leading to constant oxygen starvation of its cells, resulting in weakening of memory and slow mental degradation. Early sclerotic changes develop in the vessels, and the risk of cerebral hemorrhage increases.

Heart. Alcohol abuse causes increased blood cholesterol levels, persistent hypertension and myocardial dystrophy. Cardiovascular failure puts the patient on the brink of the grave. Alcoholic myopathy : Muscle degeneration as a result of alcoholism. The reasons for this are lack of use of muscles, poor diet and alcohol damage to the nervous system. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy affects the heart muscle.

Intestines. The constant effect of alcohol on the wall of the small intestine leads to a change in the structure of cells, and they lose the ability to fully absorb nutrients and mineral components, which ends in the depletion of the alcoholic’s body. Constant inflammation of the stomach and later intestines causes ulcers of the digestive organs .

Liver. E This organ suffers the most from alcohol: an inflammatory process occurs ( hepatitis ), and then scar degeneration ( cirrhosis ). The liver ceases to perform its function of disinfecting toxic metabolic products, producing blood proteins and other important functions, which leads to the inevitable death of the patient. Cirrhosis – the disease is insidious: it slowly creeps up on a person, and then strikes, and immediately kills. The cause of the disease is the toxic effects of alcohol.

Pancreas. Patients suffering from alcoholism are 10 times more likely to develop diabetes than non-drinkers: alcohol destroys the pancreas, the organ that produces insulin, and profoundly distorts metabolism.

Leather. A drinking person almost always looks older than his age: his skin very soon loses its elasticity and ages prematurely.

Tobacco smoking

Statistics say: compared to non-smokers, long-term smokers are 13 times more likely to develop angina pectoris, 12 times more likely to develop myocardial infarction, and 10 times more likely to develop a stomach ulcer. Smokers make up 96 - 100% of all lung cancer patients. Every seventh long-term smoker suffers from obliterating endarteritis - a serious disease of the blood vessels.

Nicotine is a nerve poison. Experiments on animals and observations of humans have established that nicotine in small doses excites nerve cells, increases breathing and heart rate, causes heart rhythm disturbances, nausea and vomiting. In large doses, it inhibits and then paralyzes the activity of central nervous system cells, including vegetative ones. A disorder of the nervous system is manifested by decreased ability to work, trembling hands, and weakened memory.

Nicotine also affects the endocrine glands, in particular the adrenal glands, which release a hormone into the blood - Adrenaline, which causes vasospasm, increased blood pressure and increased heart rate. By having a detrimental effect on the gonads, nicotine contributes to the development of sexual weakness in men - impotence.

Smoking is especially harmful for children and adolescents. The nervous and circulatory systems, which have not yet become stronger, react painfully to tobacco.

In addition to nicotine, other components of tobacco smoke also have a negative effect. When carbon monoxide enters the body, oxygen starvation develops due to the fact that carbon monoxide combines more easily with hemoglobin than oxygen and is delivered with the blood to all human tissues and organs. Cancer occurs 20 times more often in smokers than in non-smokers. The longer a person smokes, the more likely he is to die from this serious disease. Statistical studies have shown that smokers often develop cancerous tumors in other organs - the esophagus, stomach, larynx, and kidneys. Smokers often develop cancer of the lower lip due to the carcinogenic effect of the extract that accumulates in the mouthpiece of the pipe.

Very often, smoking leads to the development of chronic bronchitis, accompanied by a constant cough and bad breath. As a result of chronic inflammation, the bronchi expand, and bronchiectasis is formed with serious consequences - pneumosclerosis, leading to circulatory failure. Smokers often experience heart pain. This is due to spasm of the coronary vessels that supply the heart muscle with the development of angina pectoris (coronary heart failure). Myocardial infarction occurs 3 times more often in smokers than in non-smokers.

Addiction

A drug is any chemical compound that affects the functioning of the body. Drug addiction (this word is derived from the Greek narkē stupor, sleep + mania madness, passion, attraction) - chronic diseases caused by the abuse of medicinal or non-medicinal drugs. This is dependence on intoxicating substances, a state of mental and physical dependence on an intoxicating substance that acts on the central nervous system, changing tolerance to the drug with a tendency to increase doses and the development of physical dependence.

Currently, a new situation related to drug addiction has developed in the country - there is an increase in drug consumption. If earlier drug addicts preferred one drug, now polydrug addiction is the use of various drugs with a transition from weak to strong drugs. Girls' involvement in drugs is on the rise.

The extremely painful exit from the drug addiction- “withdrawal”, autonomic reactions and the patient’s fear of a very painful way out of physical dependence on the drug, give low percentage cured. Some narcologists believe that drug addiction is incurable.

Drug addiction is the most serious threat to the existence of society.

Drug abuse, known since ancient times, has now spread to an extent that alarms the entire world community. Even with the narrowing, from the point of view of narcologists, of the boundaries of drug addiction to legally acceptable ones, in many countries drug addiction is recognized as a social disaster.

Abuse among young people is especially disastrous - both the present and the future of society are affected. From the point of view of narcologists, the full picture of the spread of abuse, including forms of substance abuse, is even more tragic. Substances and drugs not included in the list of drugs, as a rule, are even more malignant and lead to even greater harm to humans.

The International Anti-Drug Center in New York has a document indicating the number of drug addicts on the globe - 1,000,000,000 people.

So, the main reasons for drug abuse are:

Social coherence. If the use of a particular drug is accepted in a group to which a person belongs or with which he identifies, he will feel the need to use that drug to show that he belongs to that group.

Pleasure. One of the main reasons why people use drugs is for the associated and pleasurable sensations, from well-being and relaxation to mystical euphoria.

Curiosity in relation to drugs, causes some people to start taking drugs themselves.

Wealth and leisure can lead to boredom and loss of interest in life, and drugs may seem like an outlet and stimulation in this case.

Relief from physical stress. Most people manage to cope with the most stressful situations in their lives, but some try to find refuge in the form of drug addiction. Drugs often become the false center around which their lives revolve.

The role of various factors in promoting health.

Healthy lifestyle

Human health- this is his ability to maintain age- and gender-appropriate psychophysical stability in conditions of constant changes in quantitative and qualitative units of structural and sensory information.

Healthy lifestyle- this is a person’s established way of organizing the production, everyday and cultural aspects of life, which allows one to realize one’s creative potential to one degree or another, preserving and improving human health.

Based on this, the basis of a healthy lifestyle includes:

Compliance with the daily routine - work, rest, sleep - in accordance with the daily biorhythm;

Physical activity, including systematic exercise in available sports, recreational jogging, rhythmic and static gymnastics, dosed walking in the air;

Reasonable use of hardening methods;

Balanced diet.

Balanced diet

Balanced diet- this is the nutrition of a healthy person, based on scientific basis, capable of quantitatively and qualitatively satisfying the body's energy needs.

The energy value of food is measured in calories(one calorie is equal to the amount of heat required to heat 1 liter of water by 1 degree). Human energy expenditures are expressed in the same units. In order for the weight of an adult to remain unchanged while maintaining a normal functional state, the influx of energy into the body from food must be equal to the energy expenditure for certain work. This is the basic principle of rational nutrition, taking into account climatic and seasonal conditions, age and gender of workers. But the main indicator of energy exchange is the value physical activity. At the same time, fluctuations in metabolism can be quite significant. For example, metabolic processes in vigorously working skeletal muscle can increase 1000 times compared to muscle at rest.

Even with complete rest, energy is spent on the functioning of the body - this is the so-called basal metabolism. Energy expenditure at rest in 1 hour is approximately 1 kilocalorie per kilogram of body weight.

In nutrition, it is necessary to take into account not only the quantity of food eaten, but also its quality characteristics. That is why the main elements of a balanced diet are balance and correct mode. A balanced diet is considered to be one that provides an optimal ratio of basic nutritional and biologically active substances: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. The most important principle of nutritional balance is correct ratio main nutrients - proteins, fats and carbohydrates. This relationship is expressed by the formula 1:1:4 , and during heavy physical labor - 1:1:5 , in old age - 1:0,8:3 . Balance also includes a relationship with calorie indicators.

Based on the balance formula, an adult who does not engage in physical labor should receive 70-100 g of proteins and fats and about 400 g of carbohydrates per day, of which no more than 60-80 g of sugar. Proteins and fats must be of animal and vegetable origin. It is especially important to include vegetable fats in food (up to 30% of the total amount), which have protective properties against the development of atherosclerosis and reduce blood cholesterol. It is very important that food contains a sufficient amount of all vitamins necessary for a person (there are about 30 in total), especially vitamins A, E, which are soluble only in fats, C, P and group B - water-soluble. There are especially many vitamins in liver, honey, nuts, rose hips, black currants, cereal sprouts, carrots, cabbage, red peppers, lemons, and also in milk. During periods of increased physical and mental stress, it is recommended to take vitamin complexes and increased doses of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Given the stimulating effect of vitamins on the central nervous system, you should not take them at night, and since most of them are acids, take them only after meals to avoid irritating the gastric mucosa.

Thus, from all of the above we can deduce the main rules of rational nutrition:

do not overeat;

diversify your diet by eating greens, vegetables, and fruits at any time of the year; limit the consumption of animal fats, including butter, salt, sugar, confectionery; eat less fried foods;

do not eat hot and spicy foods;

chew food thoroughly;

do not eat late in the evening;

eat at least 4-5 times a day in small portions, try to eat at the same time.

Hardening procedures

Physiological essence hardening a person is that under the influence of temperature influences, with the help of natural factors, the body gradually becomes immune (of course, to a certain extent) to colds and overheating. Such a person tolerates physical and mental stress more easily, gets less tired, and maintains high performance and activity.

The main hardening factors are air, sun and water. Showers, baths, saunas, and quartz lamps have the same effect. Hardening to heat and cold is carried out using various irritants.

Basic principles hardening are:

gradual increase in hardening factors;

systematic use of them;

varying intensity;

a variety of means with mandatory consideration of the individual properties of the body.

The natural ability of a person to adapt to changes in the environment, and above all temperature, is preserved only with constant training. Under the influence of heat or cold, various physiological changes occur in the body. This includes an increase in the activity of the central nervous system, an increase in the activity of the endocrine glands, an increase in the activity of cellular enzymes, and an increase in the protective properties of the body. A person’s resistance to the action of other factors, for example, lack of oxygen in the surrounding air, increases, and overall physical endurance increases.

The most common hardening methods are water and air methods.

Air hardening can be carried out in the form of air baths, changing the intensity of the load by gradually decreasing or increasing the ambient temperature from season to season, the duration of the procedure and the area of the naked body surface. Depending on the temperature, air baths are divided into warm (over 22°), indifferent (21-22°), cool (17-20°), moderately cold (13-16°), cold (4-13°), very cold (below 4°). Air baths, in addition to their training effect on the mechanisms of thermoregulation, in particular on the blood vessels of the skin, also have an effect on the entire body. Inhaling clean, fresh air causes deeper breathing, which allows for better ventilation of the lungs and more oxygen into the blood. At the same time, the performance of skeletal and cardiac muscles increases, blood pressure normalizes, blood composition improves, etc. Air baths have a beneficial effect on the nervous system, a person becomes calmer, more balanced, mood, sleep, appetite improves, and overall physical and mental performance increases.

Water treatments have not only a temperature effect on the body, but also a mechanical effect, divided into hot (over 40°), warm (40-36°), indifferent (35-34°), cool (33-20°), cold - with water temperature below 20°C. It is best to start hardening with water indoors at the body’s usual room temperature, at any time of the year. First, it is recommended to take local water procedures, for example, wiping with a wet towel immediately after morning hygienic exercises. Having started rubbing with water at about 30°, gradually reduce it by 1° daily, bringing it to 18° and lower, depending on how you feel. The procedure begins with the hands, then wipes the shoulders, neck, and torso. After this, rub yourself with a massage towel until the skin turns red and feels pleasantly warm.

Hardening brings great benefit not only healthy, but also sick people. Many people, it would seem, who were already doomed to chronic illnesses, managed not only to completely recover from the diseases that beset them, but also to completely restore their lost strength and health.

Conclusion

Human health must be protected and strengthened. The health of a person who has any ailments requires mandatory correction. This correction can be purely medical, or it can combine both medical and non-traditional methods of strengthening and restoring health, and can also be based on an individually selected regimen.

A healthy lifestyle is subjectively significant, therefore, preserving and strengthening the health of each person requires a restructuring of consciousness, breaking old ideas about health, and changing behavioral stereotypes. Health is a value without which life does not bring satisfaction and happiness.

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