Iodine, a key component of thyroid hormones, is considered an essential micronutrient for proper health at all life stages. Indeed, an inadequate dietary intake of iodine is responsible for several functional and developmental abnormalities. The most serious consequences of iodine deficiency include hypothyroidism, early abortion, low birth weight, preterm delivery, neurocognitive impairment, and mental retardation. On the other hand, the consequences of mild-to-moderate iodine deficiency, such as goiter, are less well understood but represent an important priority for research and public health practice. Over the last several decades, many countries across the globe have introduced mandatory salt iodization programs, which have dramatically reduced the number of iodine-deficient countries. However, despite substantial progress worldwide, mild-to-moderate deficiency is still prevalent even in many developed countries. Thus, the ongoing monitoring of the population iodine status remains crucially important, and attention may need to be paid to vulnerable life stage groups.

Food and Lifestyle in Health and Disease gathers information on various food types providing an explanation of their nutrient composition, sources, roles, and mechanisms in health and diseases. To obtain good health practices and prevent diseases, it is necessary to understand links in the relationship of food, lifestyle, environment, and health. This book is a vital source for research topics related to these issues, including the following: Analysis of various types of food and lifestyles for the prevention and treatment of diseases and disorders, including cardiovascular disorders, cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. The influences of environmental pollution, synergistic effects of different foods, and synergy of foods with physical activity or medicine. The roles of animal, fungal, and plant source foods in human health and disease. This book is appropriate for health-conscious users, health care providers and practitioners, teachers, and researchers.

This study has two central concerns: the state of human health in forests, and the causal links between forests and human health. Within this framework, we consider four issues related to tropical forests and human health. First, we discuss forest foods, emphasizing the forest as a food-producing habitat, human dependence on forest foods, the nutritional contributions of such foods, and nutrition-related problems that affect forest peoples. Our second topic is disease and other health problems. In addition to the major problems—HIV/AIDS, malaria, Ebola and mercury poisoning—we address some 20 other tropical diseases and health problems related to forests. The third topic is medicinal products. We review the biophysical properties of medicinal species and consider related indigenous knowledge, human uses of medicinal forest products, the serious threats to forest sustainability, and the roles of traditional healers, with a discussion of the benefits of forest medicines and conflicts over their distribution. Our fourth and final topic is the cultural interpretations of human health found among forest peoples, including holistic world views that impinge on health and indigenous knowledge. The Occasional Paper concludes with some observations about the current state of our knowledge, its utility and shortcomings, and our suggestions for future research.

Iodine is a naturally occurring element and inorganic iodines found in the ocean accumulate in fish, shellfish and seaweed. Industrially iodine is used in many applications including the manufacture of inks, dyes, photographic agents and in water-purification. In the health-care industry, iodine is widely used as a disinfectant/biocide and in the production of soaps, bandages, and medicines. Iodine is also included as a salt in some countries to provide dietary supplementation. This Concise International Chemical Assessment Document (CICAD) evaluates the scientific literature on the health aspects of iodine and inorganic iodides. Its focus is on the health effects from environmental exposures beyond those associated with the diet and nutritional supplementation. Radioactive iodine isotopes are regarded as outside the scope of the document.

This book, now in its second edition, will serve as a quick reference that will help the reader to understand different diagnostic scintigraphic patterns and to select appropriate treatment modalities based on functional imaging. The book concisely describes relevant anatomic and physiologic considerations for each organ system and the pathophysiologic features of different relevant diseases and relates them to the scintigraphy of each system. It thereby provides an informative synopsis of the pathophysiologic basis of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging. The volume is divided into 13 chapters that feature basic pathophysiology, cell biology and biologic effects of ionizing radiation, radiopharmaceutical uptake and relevant anatomic and physiologic considerations for each organ system and the pathophysiologic features of different relevant diseases. The objective of this volume is to provide a brief, easy to-use but nonetheless comprehensive companion guide to “The Pathophysiology Basis of Nuclear Medicine” that will prove useful to undergraduates and postgraduates as well as to practitioners in clinical and research fields.

Selenium (SE) and its compounds are used in photographic devices, gun gluing, plastics, paints, anti-dandruff shampoos, vitamin and mineral supp., fungicides, and glass. It is also used to prepare drugs and as a nutritional feed supp. for poultry and livestock. This profile includes: (a) The exam¿n. of toxicologic info. and epidemiologic evaluations on SE to ascertain the levels of significant human exposure for the substance and the chronic health effects; (b) A determination of whether adequate info. on the health effects of SE is avail. to determine levels of exposure that present a significant risk to human health (SRHH); and (c) Ident¿n. of toxicologic testing needed to identify the types of exposure that may present SRHH. Illus. A print on demand pub.