Why are drugs harmful at all ages?
Adolescents who flood their brains with chemicals do lasting damage at a very critical age of neurodevelopment. These drugs are powerful neuromodulators that modify the function of brain circuits. These changes take root even after the drugs themselves are cleared from the body.
What are the disadvantages of drug?
Seizures, stroke, mental confusion and brain damage. Lung disease. Problems with memory, attention and decision-making, which make daily living more difficult. Global effects of drugs on the body, such as breast development in men and increases in body temperature, which can lead to other health problems.
How are drugs bad for the environment?
Drug residue can enter surface waters in the manufacturing process. Humans metabolize drugs and then excrete trace amounts of them into the sewer system. This waste ends up traveling through treatment systems and into the water supply.
Who found cure for smallpox?
The smallpox vaccine, introduced by Edward Jenner in 1796, was the first successful vaccine to be developed. He observed that milkmaids who previously had caught cowpox did not catch smallpox and showed that inoculated vaccinia protected against inoculated variola virus.
Is smallpox still around today?
Currently, there is no evidence of naturally occurring smallpox transmission anywhere in the world. Although a worldwide immunization program eradicated smallpox disease decades ago, small quantities of smallpox virus officially still exist in two research laboratories in Atlanta, Georgia, and in Russia.
How does smallpox kill?
The cause of death from smallpox is not clear, but the infection is now known to involve multiple organs. Circulating immune complexes, overwhelming viremia, or an uncontrolled immune response may be contributing factors. In early hemorrhagic smallpox, death occurs suddenly about six days after the fever develops.
Is there a vaccine for smallpox?
The smallpox vaccine is the only way to prevent smallpox. The vaccine is made from a virus called vaccinia, which is another pox-type virus related to smallpox. The vaccine helps the body develop immunity to smallpox. It was successfully used to eradicate smallpox from the human population.
Can smallpox come back?
Thanks to the success of vaccination, the last natural outbreak of smallpox in the United States occurred in 1949. In 1980, the World Health Assembly declared smallpox eradicated (eliminated), and no cases of naturally occurring smallpox have happened since.
Can you be immune to smallpox?
It is now clear that immunity wanes over time. Exactly how long the vaccine confers protection, however, is difficult to assess. Immunity to smallpox is believed to rest on the development of neutralizing antibodies, levels of which decline five to 10 years after vaccination.
Who is immune to smallpox?
It suggests that half of those vaccinated as children – about one in four westerners – is currently immune to smallpox. Furthermore, nearly all of the rest of the vaccinated population may be partially immune.
What started smallpox?
Smallpox is an acute, contagious disease caused by the variola virus, a member of the genus Orthopoxvirus, in the Poxviridae family (see the image below). Virologists have speculated that it evolved from an African rodent poxvirus 10 millennia ago.
Does the military still vaccinate for smallpox?
For several years all military personnel continued to be routinely vaccinated. However, only selected groups of military personnel are currently vaccinated against smallpox.
Why do we no longer vaccinate for smallpox?
Since smallpox was eradicated, the vaccine is not recommended in routine immunization. It is used to protect researchers who work on the variola virus that causes smallpox and other viruses in the same virus family (known as orthopox viruses).
How long is anthrax vaccine good for?
To build up protection against anthrax, people need 5 doses over a period of 18 months. However, it is unknown how long that protection lasts so people who are recommended to get this vaccine are advised to get a booster dose each year to stay protected.
Why does the military vaccinate for smallpox?
Terrorists or governments hostile to the United States may have, or could obtain, some of the variola virus that causes smallpox disease. If so, these adversaries could use it as a biological weapon. People exposed to variola virus, or those at risk of being exposed, can be protected by vaccinia (smallpox) vaccine.