History
Many have deemed medical geology as a new field when in actuality it is re-emerging. Hippocrates and Aristotle first recognized the relationship between human diseases and the earth's elements. Only now are people becoming aware of the effects the environment has on our health. This field ultimately depends on a number of different fields coming and working together to solve some of the earth's mysteries. The scientific term for this field is "hydrobiogeochemoepidemiopathoecology" however it is more commonly known as medical geology. It was established in 1990 by the International Union of Geological Sciences. Paracelsus, the father of pharmacology (1493-1541) stated that, "All substances are poisons, there is none which is not a poison. The right dosage differentiates a poison and a remedy." This passage sums up the idea of medical geology perfectly. The goal of this field is to find the right balance and intake of elements/ minerals in order to improve and maintain health.
Examples of research in medical geology include:
- Studies on the impact of contaminant mobility as a result of extreme weather events such as flooding.
- Lead and other heavy metal exposure resulting from dust and other particulates
- Asbestos exposure such as amphibole asbestos dusts in Libby, Montana
- Fungal infection resulting from airborne dust, such as Valley Fever or coccidioidomycosis
Read more about this topic: Medical Geology
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“In history the great moment is, when the savage is just ceasing to be a savage, with all his hairy Pelasgic strength directed on his opening sense of beauty;—and you have Pericles and Phidias,—and not yet passed over into the Corinthian civility. Everything good in nature and in the world is in that moment of transition, when the swarthy juices still flow plentifully from nature, but their astrigency or acridity is got out by ethics and humanity.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“These anyway might think it was important
That human history should not be shortened.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“If you look at history you’ll find that no state has been so plagued by its rulers as when power has fallen into the hands of some dabbler in philosophy or literary addict.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)