Top killer diseases in the developing world

1. Lower respiratory infections
Death toll: More than 4 million people each year.
What are they? Mostly pneumonia and other diseases of the lungs, windpipe or bronchial tubes, including Legionnaire's disease.
How are they spread? Coughing, sneezing, laughing or exhaling.
Facts:
# Most victims are under five.
# Tuberculosis and whooping cough are also lower respiratory infections, but death tolls are tallied separately by the U.N. World Health Organisation (WHO).
# Often associated with AIDS.
Treatment and prevention: Virus usually runs its course after seven to 10 days, but sometimes antibiotics are needed.
Target: Goal number four of the U.N.-sponsored Millennium Development Goals aimed at cutting global poverty calls for a reduction in child mortality by two-thirds by 2015.

"If you look at the resources going into child health compared to the resources going into other areas, really it is very, very small and we need to increase the resources going in both from within national budgets and from external donors."
Elizabeth Mason, director of Child and Adolescent Health, WHO

2. HIV/AIDS
Death toll: More than 3 million deaths attributed to AIDS in 2004.
Infection rate: Some 39.4 million people in the world live with HIV.
What is it? HIV stands for "human immunodeficiency virus". It erodes the immune system. Infection with HIV has been established as the underlying cause of AIDS, which stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Most people with HIV develop signs of AIDS within eight to 15 years unless they receive treatment. AIDS-related deaths are often caused by pneumonia or tuberculosis.
How is it spread? Unprotected sex, blood transfusions or contaminated needles, or from mother to child during pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding.
Facts:
# 65 percent of HIV cases are in sub-Saharan Africa.
# Teenage girls are at high risk in sub-Saharan Africa, where three-quarters of 15-24-year-olds living with HIV are female.
Treatment and prevention: There is no vaccine for HIV, but HIV-positive people can live on life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs for decades.
Target: The "3 by 5" initiative by WHO and UNAIDS aims to provide antiretroviral treatment to 3 million HIV-positive people by the end of 2005. As many as 6 million people need treatment. By the end of 2004, some 720,000 were receiving therapy, prompting UNAIDS to say it was on track to meet its goal.

"It will be difficult to reach 3 million people with these drugs but what this campaign for "3 by 5" has done is (ensure) treatment for HIV is now on the agenda in every developing country." Dr Peter Piot, UNAIDS executive director


3. Malaria
Death toll: Between 1 million and 5 million each year.
Infection rate: WHO puts the number of people affected annually at 300 million, but the Kenyan Medical Research Institute says there are actually 515 million cases a year of the deadliest form of malaria alone.
How is it spread? Mosquitoes.
Facts:
# Malaria kills an African child every 30 seconds.
# Malaria is transmitted to humans by the female anopheles mosquito.
# Ninety per cent of deaths are in Africa, home to the most deadly form of the virus.
# Malaria is responsible for 20 percent of Africa's under-five mortality and 10 percent of the continent's overall disease burden.
# Less than five percent of people at greatest malaria risk have insecticide-treated mosquito nets to sleep under.
Treatment and prevention: Insecticide-treated mosquito nets and indoor insecticide spraying. There are a variety of anti-malarial drugs, but the malaria parasite has developed immunity to many of them. For short-term prevention, travellers take daily or weekly pills.
Target: Millennium Development Goal number six includes a call for the international community to halt and begin to reverse the incidence of killer diseases, including malaria.


4. Diarrhoea
Death toll: Kills around 2.2 million people each year.
Infection rate: 4 billion cases a year.
What is it? Diarrhoea - caused by dysentery, cholera and a host of lesser-known scourges - is a symptom of infection from bacterial, viral and parasitic organisms like microscopic worms. Most diarrhoea-related deaths, particularly in children, are due to dehydration.
How is it spread? Contaminated water and food.
Facts:
# In Southeast Asia, diarrhoea is responsible for up to 8.5 percent of all deaths, and in Africa for 7.7 percent of deaths.
Treatment: Diarrhoea can be treated with oral re-hydration salts. Zinc is also now advocated as an accompanying treatment.
Target: Goal number 10 of the Millennium Development Goals is to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.

5. Tuberculosis
Death toll: Two million people die every year.
Infection rate: About 2 billion people are infected with TB and over 8 million new cases develop each year.
What is it? Symptoms of tuberculosis (TB) include a chronic cough, fever, chills, weakness and weight loss.
How is it spread? Coughing or sneezing.
Facts:
# One-third of the world's population is infected with TB.
# TB is a frequent killer for people with AIDS. African states suffering from the HIV pandemic have experienced an annual 10 percent rise in TB cases.
# Has suffered a re-emergence in Eastern Europe, largely due to patients failing to complete courses of treatment. This has contributed to drug-resistant strains evolving.
Treatment and prevention: The Bacille Calmette-Guerin - BCG - vaccine is the most commonly used preventative measure against TB in the developing world, but drug-resistant strains are on the rise.Directly Observed Therapy Short-course - DOTS - is the internationally recommended approach to TB control. Under DOTS, health workers closely monitor treatment to ensure that patients complete the full course of medication, thereby helping to prevent new strains of drug-resistant TB developing. The method has cure rates of up to 95 percent, even in the poorest countries.
Targets: The Global Plan to Stop TB ran from 2001 to 2005. The target was to detect 70 percent of new TB infections, but the programme only achieved 45 percent case detection. However, 82 percent of detected cases were treated, almost up to the 85 percent cure target. A new Global Plan will run to 2015 from 2006, aiming for Millennium Development Goal number six, which is to halt and begin reversing the spread of major diseases like TB.

"The DOTS strategy is one of the most cost-effective of all health interventions."
The World Bank

6. Measles
Death toll: An estimated 530,000 measles deaths annually, mostly children.
Infection rate: More than 30 million people are infected with the virus each year.
What is it? Measles can cause blindness, brain damage and make children susceptible to pneumonia and diarrhoea. Potentially fatal if left untreated.
How is it spread? Coughing and sneezing. It is highly contagious.
Facts:
# 1,400 people die from measles every day.
# It costs $1 to immunise a child.
# Africa and Southeast Asia account for 82 percent of the global death toll.
Treatment and prevention: Vaccination is effective. The disease can be treated with drugs, but strains of drug-resistant measles have developed.
Targets: The Measles Initiative and the WHO/U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) Strategy for Sustainable Measles Mortality Reduction aim to reduce measles deaths with comprehensive vaccination programmes. Global measles deaths have fallen by 39 per cent since 1999, while Africa has witnessed a drop of 47 percent.

"We can take a country that is endemic for a leading cause of child death and, almost at will, take it to zero percent and keep it there. Now we are just trying to get the resources and the political cooperation to do it everywhere."
Dr Mark Grabowsky, Technical Advisor, Measles Initiative & American Red Cross


7. Whooping cough, or pertussis
Death toll: 200,000 to 300,000 die each year.
Infection rate: 20 million to 40 million cases annually.
What is it? Highly contagious acute bacterial disease of the respiratory tract.
How is it spread? Coughing, sneezing or talking.
Facts:
# 90 percent of pertussis cases occur in developing countries. Most prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa.
# The Global Alliance for Vaccines & Immunisation (GAVI) immunised 294,000 children against whooping cough last year.
Treatment and prevention: Can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccines are the most effective way to control it.
Targets: GAVI aims to introduce pertussis vaccine into routine childhood vaccination programmes all over the world.

8. Tetanus
Death toll: 214,000 deaths a year.
Infection rate: 500,000 cases a year.
What is it? Also known as lockjaw, tetanus is a potentially fatal disease of the central nervous system.
How is it spread? Caused by a wound becoming infected with bacteria. Clostridium tetani spores live in soil, so are present everywhere.
Facts:
# Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia bear the brunt of tetanus deaths, with 84,000 and 82,000 respectively.
# Neo-natal tetanus - passed from mother to child - is a leading cause of infant mortality in some regions.
# One in 10 Haitians projected to have HIV/AIDS by 2015.
# Since WHO called for global elimination of the disease in 1989, neo-natal tetanus deaths have decreased to 180,000 worldwide in 2002 from 800,000 in the 1980s.
Treatment: Can be prevented with a vaccine

9. Meningitis
Death toll: 174,000 deaths a year.
Infection rate: Over a million people contract a form of meningitis every year.
What is it? A frequently fatal infection of the tissues that cover the brain and spinal cord. Even with early diagnosis and correct treatment, five to 10 percent of patients die.
How is it spread? Droplets from the throat or breath. Close contact or sharing eating and drinking utensils can spread the disease.
Facts:
# The "Meningitis Belt" with the world's highest incidence rates stretches from Senegal in western Africa to Ethiopia in the east.
# 10 to 20 percent of survivors suffer brain damage, hearing loss, or learning disability.
Treatment and prevention: Vaccines are available. Antibiotics for treatment include penicillin and ceftriaxone. Oily chloramphenicol is the drug of choice in areas with limited health facilities because a single dose is effective.
Target: The International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision for Epidemic Meningitis Control supports research to develop a new vaccine.

10. Syphilis
Death toll: 157,000 deaths a year.
Infection rate: Around 12.2 million cases worldwide.
How is it spread? Syphilis is primarily spread by sexual contact, though it can be transmitted internally from an infected mother directly to her baby.
Facts:
# Many common antibiotics do not work against syphilis.
# Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America -- in that order -- experience the highest rates of syphilis.
Treatment: Penicillin.

Credit to alertnet.org

Most Affordable Places To Live Well in Usa

1. Minneapolis
The "City of Lakes" is a case study in corporate social responsibility. A large variety of companies--from Target to Cargill--donate huge sums of money to the city's schools, cultural institutions and health services. This positively affects the quality of life and the arts and leisure choices. Housing and cost of living are both affordable, but aren't dramatically below national means.

2. Indianapolis
Based on the NAHB/Wells Fargo housing affordability index, Indianapolis has a higher percentage of homes available to the median-earning household than any other city. When it comes to arts and leisure activities, Indianapolis may not live up to standards set by New York or Los Angeles--it scored 30th out of the 50 biggest cities--but what is available has an affordable price tag: Indianapolis ranks as the 13th cheapest city to live in.

3. Cincinnati
The Queen City is one of the most affordable in the country, in terms of cost of living and housing. Median-earning residents here can afford 76.5% of the homes on the market. Not that they need it (it's the fifth cheapest city to live in), but housing affordability leaves Cincinnatians with plenty of cash on hand. The city is in the bottom half of Sperling's measure.

4. St. Louis
What makes St. Louis a desirable housing market isn't simply the 76% of homes that are available to the median buyer, but its relatively stability; The area isn't as bogged down in risky loans and defaults as other Midwestern cities. The Gateway to the West has a strong ratio of parks and restaurants to citizens, according to Sperling's, and is the 15th cheapest city in which to live, based on rankings of the top 50 cities by the Council on Community and Economic Research.

5. Houston
One of the country's fastest-growing cities, Houston has added nearly 1 million new people since 2000. Housing affordability and a strong job market seem enough to lure people from all over the country. The city has invested millions over the last five years in expanding infrastructure by adding trains, bolstering the downtown business district and funding the arts, which has helped to centralize--to an extent--the city, which has always been more famous for sprawl and oil. It also helps that on an everyday cost basis, among the cities we studied, Houston is the cheapest place to live.

Source : Forbes.com

Mercury Effects

People in the U.S. are mainly exposed to methylmercury, an organic compound, when they eat fish and shellfish that contain methylmercury. Whether an exposure to the various forms of mercury will harm a person's health depends on a number of factors (below). Almost all people have at least trace amounts of methylmercury in their tissues, reflecting methylmercury’s widespread presence in the environment and people’s exposure through the consumption of fish and shellfish. People may be exposed to mercury in any of its forms under different circumstances. The factors that determine how severe the health effects are from mercury exposure include these:
* the chemical form of mercury (methylmercury is more toxic than elemental mercury);
* the dose;
* the age of the person exposed (the fetus is the most susceptible);
* the duration of exposure;
* the route of exposure -- inhalation, ingestion, dermal contact, etc.; and
* the health of the person exposed.

Mercury exists in three chemical forms. They each have specific effects on human health.
* Methylmercury
* Elemental mercury
* Other mercury compounds (inorganic and organic)

Methylmercury effects
For fetuses, infants, and children, the primary health effect of methylmercury is impaired neurological development. Methylmercury exposure in the womb, which can result from a mother's consumption of fish and shellfish that contain methylmercury, can adversely affect a baby's growing brain and nervous system. Impacts on cognitive thinking, memory, attention, language, and fine motor and visual spatial skills have been seen in children exposed to methylmercury in the womb. Recent human biological monitoring by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1999 and 2000 , shows that most people have blood mercury levels below a level associated with possible health effects. More recent data from the CDC support this general finding.Outbreaks of methylmercury poisonings have made it clear that adults, children, and developing fetuses are at risk from ingestion exposure to methylmercury. During these poisoning outbreaks some mothers with no symptoms of nervous system damage gave birth to infants with severe disabilities, it became clear that the developing nervous system of the fetus may be more vulnerable to methylmercury than is the adult nervous system.

Elemental mercury effects
Elemental (metallic) mercury primarily causes health effects when it is breathed as a vapor where it can be absorbed through the lungs. These exposures can occur when elemental mercury is spilled or products that contain elemental mercury break and expose mercury to the air, particularly in warm or poorly-ventilated indoor spaces. The first paragraph on this page lists the factors that determine the severity of the health effects from exposure to mercury. Symptoms include these: tremors; emotional changes (e.g., mood swings, irritability, nervousness, excessive shyness); insomnia; neuromuscular changes (such as weakness, muscle atrophy, twitching); headaches; disturbances in sensations; changes in nerve responses; performance deficits on tests of cognitive function. At higher exposures there may be kidney effects, respiratory failure and death. People concerned about their exposure to elemental mercury should consult their physician.

Effects of other mercury compounds (inorganic and organic)
High exposures to inorganic mercury may result in damage to the gastrointestinal tract, the nervous system, and the kidneys. Both inorganic and organic mercury compounds are absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract and affect other systems via this route. However, organic mercury compounds are more readily absorbed via ingestion than inorganic mercury compounds.Symptoms of high exposures to inorganic mercury include: skin rashes and dermatitis; mood swings; memory loss; mental disturbances; and muscle weakness. People concerned about their exposure to inorganic mercury should consult their physician.

source : epa.gov

Most Poisonous Creatures

Poisonous creatures don't intend to hurt other creatures, which is why they have bright colors and markings that send a clear message: "Don't touch!" If a predator ignores that warning, he might not get a second chance. One swallow, or even a little taste testing, and it's all over. The toxin will stop the heart or lungs from working, and death will follow.The poison arrow frog and certain salamanders would have to top most people's list of "The World's Most Poisonous Animals." Just two micrograms of toxin from the poison arrow frog is enough to kill a human. A "microgram" is a very small amount. The ink in the period at the end of this sentence will weigh around six micrograms.
What about venomous animals? A good example of defense can be found in stonefish. They store their toxin in gruesome-looking spines that are designed to hurt would-be predators. This homely creature will win no beauty prize, but deserves honor and respect for being "The World's Most Venomous Fish."
Toxins also are designed to kill prey or, at least, slow them down. This is the tactic used by many snakes. The prize for "The World's Most Venomous Snake" goes to the inland taipan of Australia. But the top prize, "The World Most Venomous Animal," should go to the box jellyfish, which is found in the waters around Asia and Australia. They have long tentacles with stings at the very ends.
Hospitals often carry medicines that work against venom, but treatment has to be very fast to counteract the toxins of these prize-winning creatures.

10 Earth Interesting Fact

1. What is the hottest place on Earth?
Count one wrong if you guessed Death Valley in California. True enough on many days. But El Azizia in Libya recorded a temperature of 136 degrees Fahrenheit (57.8 Celsius) on Sept. 13, 1922 -- the hottest ever measured. In Death Valley, it got up to 134 Fahrenheit on July 10, 1913.
2. And the coldest place around here?
Far and away, the coldest temperature ever measured on Earth was -129 Fahrenheit (-89 Celsius) at Vostok, Antarctica, on July 21, 1983.
3. What makes thunder?
If you thought, "Lightning!" then hats off to you. But I had a more illuminating answer in mind. The air around a lightning bolt is superheated to about five times the temperature of the Sun. This sudden heating causes the air to expand faster than the speed of sound, which compresses the air and forms a shock wave; we hear it as thunder.
4. Can rocks float?
In a volcanic eruption, the violent separation of gas from lava produces a "frothy" rock called pumice, loaded with gas bubbles. Some of it can float, geologists say. I've never seen this happen, and I'm thankful for that.
5. Can rocks grow?
Yes, but observing the process is less interesting than watching paint dry. Rocks called iron-manganese crusts grow on mountains under the sea. The crusts precipitate material slowly from seawater, growing about 1 millimeter every million years. Your fingernails grow about the same amount every two weeks.
6. How much space dust falls to Earth each year?
Estimates vary, but the USGS says at least 1,000 million grams, or roughly 1,000 tons of material enters the atmosphere every year and makes its way to Earths surface. One group of scientists claims microbes rain down from space, too, and that extraterrestrial organisms are responsible for flu epidemics. There's been no proof of this, and I'm not holding my breath.
7. How far does regular dust blow in the wind?
A 1999 study showed that African dust finds its way to Florida and can help push parts of the state over the prescribed air quality limit for particulate matter set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The dust is kicked up by high winds in North Africa and carried as high as 20,000 feet (6,100 meters), where it's caught up in the trade winds and carried across the sea. Dust from China makes its way to North America, too.
8. Where is the worlds highest waterfall?
The water of Angel Falls in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet (979 meters).
9. What two great American cities are destined to merge?
The San Andreas fault, which runs north-south, is slipping at a rate of about 2 inches (5 centimeters) per year, causing Los Angeles to move towards San Francisco. Scientists forecast LA will be a suburb of the City by the Bay in about 15 million years.
10. Is Earth a sphere?
Because the planet rotates and is more flexible than you might imagine, it bulges at the midsection, creating a sort of pumpkin shape. The bulge was lessening for centuries but now, suddenly, it is growing, a recent study showed. Accelerated melting of Earth's glaciers is taking the blame for the gain in equatorial girth.

Source: Space.com