The influence of the urban environment on the health of numerous observations indicate that the cities have developed a much more worse living conditions for a man than in the countryside.
Introduction
This is due to the relatively poor hygienic conditions caused by overcrowding of the population, the presence of multiple sources of noise and pollution, isolation from natural conditions. Urbanization of the population and low reproduction rates have formed an unfavorable demographic situation.
Urban Environment is a logical consequence of the appearance on the Earth thinking beings, the youngest members of the ecosystem. The human desire for domination over nature, to its knowledge and use of this rule and knowledge for the development of the Earth's living space, the introduction of a social factor in the biological processes of the existence of the human population has led to the creation of entirely new, powerful impact on the surrounding ecosystem and the inner world, under the name of the city Wednesday.
Urban Environment smooth the process of natural selection has softened the impact of external factors that determine human adaptation, setting up the immune system. With a reasonable relation to the urban environment creates parity conditions of coexistence of built and natural environment. The slightest violation of parity as a result of socio-economic, environmental and other reforms invariably causes: changing demographics (birth, death), the spread of infectious diseases (plague, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, etc.). In the history of mankind, there are many tragic evidence of the extinction of the urban population as a result of epidemics.
For example, in the XIV century, during the black plague killed a quarter of Europe's population.
A significant population density creates conditions that increase the potential risk of adverse health effects of environmental factors contribute to the rapid spread of infections, significant injuries street.
Topic the influence of the urban environment habitat on the health of residents attracted me because nowadays the bulk of the population lives in cities. The city not only affects the way of life, making it easier and more convenient, but also on human health. It is no secret that in the villages life expectancy is higher than in urban areas. Urban habitat adversely affects human health.
In our time, this topic is very relevant, because the patched increasingly we see around us people on life and health which the city is affected negatively. The birth of children with asthma, car accidents, headaches, high blood pressure, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, poisoning by carbon gases - only the few examples of the negative impact on the person.
Urbanization, which was the result of uncontrolled mass aspirations of people from rural to urban artificial ecosystem, has further exacerbated the demographic, socio-economic and environmental problems. This created an imbalance between production and consumption, population size and capabilities of an artificial ecosystem. The management of these processes command methods led to a crisis of the political system and the disintegration of a great power.
Relocation in the city masses of rural residents who have been put in the new conditions of social, commercial, municipal, transportation and other measures affected the development of the mind and mental health of urban residents, his family and domestic relationships at the level of fertility. Social factors as a priority area in the formation of population health. An example of this is the close link between the illness and the family's material. An inverse correlation between the state of health of children and the amount of living space, the level of education of parents. In a well-off families, more than 80% of children have normal physical development and only 12% are underweight.
In households where income is below the poverty level, lack of body weight is found in almost 30% of children. In dysfunctional families neuro-psychiatric disorders observed in children 3 - 4 times more often. The very nature of life in the urban environment contributes to a violation of the biological rhythm of vital functions.
A wide variety of specific and nonspecific effects on the body, including the social, cause the mobilization of cellular and humoral immunity factors (Perederiy VG et al, 1989). Increased immunity leads to increased resistance to infections and tumors. However, a dramatic increase immunity leads to hypersensitivity and autoimmune diseases (Thomas RT, 1990).
Therefore, health should be seen as a dynamic process in a constant influence on the human body is natural and artificially created environmental factors. All of these factors are closely related and in some cases, promote health, and in others - cause disease.
Since the time of Hippocrates in the midst of medicine has always been a sick man. And still on the state of health of a society is judged by the statistics of morbidity. Therefore, our medicine is focused mainly on the problems of treatment of disease, studies of risk factors, rather than the factors that determine health, sustainability and vitality of the body.
In 1640 in Russia there are decrees on the protection of the urban environment. In 1686, there was already a law on the creation and maintenance of clean conditions in the urban environment (Bulgakov, 1990). In the future, technological progress has had a decisive influence on the formation of cities as artificial ecosystems, human health, which affected the life expectancy.
Physical factors - solar radiation
Solar radiation is an important factor affecting the state of the urban environment, and determines the totality of photo-biological (biochemical and physiological) reactions occurring in a living organism. The sun is the source of corpuscular (electrons, protons) and electromagnetic wave emissions. Solar radiation is partially absorbed, the components of the atmosphere and Earth's surface, and partly recycled into space.
Near the Earth's significant absorption of radiation is due to air pollution by dust, smoke and fog. Especially absorbed ultraviolet part of the spectrum. In the industrial cities with large dust and gas the overall intensity of solar radiation is reduced by 15 - 20% compared to rural areas, the loss of ultraviolet radiation reaching 40%.
Loss of UV rays can also be associated with inappropriate planning neighborhoods, building density, improper orientation of the streets.
The most biologically active portion of the solar spectrum is ultraviolet radiation. Under natural conditions, the intensity of ultraviolet radiation affect a geographical area, the height of the sun and pollution. The most important biological effects of UV rays is to stimulate many physiological processes in the body that is manifested in the health-building, toning and obscheprofilakticheskom effect of solar radiation on the body. Under the action of ultraviolet rays generated in the body, biologically active substances (histamine, serotonin, vitamin D), mobilized protective function of the skin, activates the blood system.
Small doses of UV rays also improve mental ability, physical activity, increased basal metabolism and protective properties of the organism.
Environmental Psychology
This lecture provides an introductory overview of major topics that have been investigated in the field of environmental psychology. Environmental psychology is broadly defined as the study of people's relationships with their everyday social and physical surroundings. People's everyday environments include their homes, neighborhoods, classrooms, workplaces, health care settings, community public spaces, as well as more remote regional and global influences on their lives. These environments encompass both built (or human-designed) and natural elements, and in many instances, both place-based and virtual features. Among the research topics discussed in this lecture are the behavioral and health effects of "tight spaces" and dysfunctional architecture, urban stressors (including high levels of noise, population density, and traffic congestion), and the restorative capacity of natural environments to reduce psychological and physiological stress. Also examined are key processes that affect individuals' and groups' responses to their surroundings—for example, their spatial cognition, environmental personalization and territorial behavior, personal space, privacy regulation, information overload and "continuous partial attention". Finally, the interdependence between global environmental conditions and people's experiences of their local place-based environments is discussed.
For more information, please go to: https://eee.uci.edu/12s/54195/
Produced by: The Teaching, Learning & Technology Center at UC Irvine
