Anthropology. Diseases and Their Impact on Humans

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The impact of diseases
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The human race has been affected by various types of diseases over the years. Some of the common diseases that have continued to impact on society include heart diseases, infectious and parasitic diseases, and environmentally acquired diseases. While most of the diseases are caused by pathogens such as bacterial and fungal infections, others are genetic by nature and are passed from parents to their offspring. Different kinds of human diseases have been known to cause different kinds of impacts on the human society. The current essay will look at some human diseases and their impact on society (Helentjaris, 2014).

The impact of diseases

One of the major impacts of diseases such as infectious diseases is restricting population growth and expansion of people into new areas. Major pandemics have caused death to millions of people across the globe hence checking population growth. People often adapt to diseases in their locality as a result of developing resistance after surviving an initial attack. However, such people succumb to new diseases they are not resistant to when they try to venture into new areas. Perhaps that is why people have been unable to inhibit some areas such as the African savannas because of their inability to adapt to diseases found there. Diseases also have a negative impact on human productivity. People infected with disease pathogens operate below their optimal capacity. In a work environment, sick workers may seek some days off from work and thus result in reduced manpower and overall productivity of the firm. Diseases such as cancer are very costly to treat and so impact negatively on family finances. Technologies such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy machines required in treating cancer are very expensive and make the government spend more on healthcare. The cost of healthcare is usually passed to citizens through increased taxation (Dobson & Carper, 1996).

In addition, diseases have negative impacts on the economy of nations (Meltzer, Cox & Fukuda, 1999). For example, infectious disease such as Ebola may force authorities outside the affected areas to restrict movement to and from the affected areas (Cheng & Heath, 2014). Such kind of actions can cause severe damage to the economy of the affected area as it restricts the flow of capital and chokes trade in all sectors (Dobson & Carper, 1996). For example, societies that are burdened by malaria outbreaks often record very low levels of economic growth (Sachs & Malaney, 2002). Pathogens of deadly communicable diseases may be used by bioterrorists to attack innocent people. In the past, bioterrorists have tried to attack people using deadly strains of anthrax among other pathogens.

Drug and alcohol abuse results in psychological diseases. Drug-induced diseases result in the degeneration of the moral values in the society. People affected by drug-induced sickness are aggressive and violent and are most likely to commit criminal acts including stealing and rape among others. Most drugs are addictive in nature (such as heroin and cocaine). The high cost of drugs turns addicts into criminals as they look for money to support their expensive habit. Drug addiction results in poor health. In addition, drug addiction causes poverty as people spend their money to satisfy their addiction. Diseases may spur innovation as researchers try to seek for cures or vaccines for major human diseases (Helentjaris, 2014).

Conclusion

We can conclude that diseases have many negative impacts such as reduced productivity, damage to the economy and poor health among others. However, diseases may also help spur innovation as scientists seek cures or vaccines for human diseases.

References

Cheng, A.., & Heath, K. (2014). Are we prepared for Ebola and other viral haemorrhagic fevers?..Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 38(5) 403-404.

Dobson, A. P., & Carper, E. R. (1996). Infectious Diseases and Human Population History. BioScience, 46 (2):115-126.

Helentjaris, D. (2014). 10 Major Types of Diseases. Web.

Meltzer, M. I., Cox, N. J., & Fukuda, K. (1999). The economic impact of pandemic influenza in the United States: priorities for intervention. Emerging infectious diseases, 5, 659-671.

Sachs, J., & Malaney, P. (2002). The economic and social burden of malaria. Nature, 415(6872):680-685.

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Anthropology. Diseases and Their Impact on Humans

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