Suman Kapur
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, India
Title: Environment and health approaches for mitigating ill-health effects of environment degradation
Biography
Biography: Suman Kapur
Abstract
Virtually all-human diseases result from the interaction of genetic susceptibility factors and modifiable environmental factors, broadly defined to include infectious, chemical, physical, nutritional & behavioral factors. Variations in genetic makeup are associated with almost all disease and this influence a person’s susceptibility to environmental factors. DNA methylation leaves indicators, or marks, on the genome and there is evidence that these marks are strongly influenced by external factors such as the environment and diet. Integrated approach to the study of chronic diseases is not the need of the hour, as neither nature nor nurture, alone can explain the molecular processes of human health or disease. There are thousands of chemicals in the modern environment and many of them are present in measurable levels in us. Diet is believed to be one of the main sources of exposure to potentially dangerous chemicals and with every meal we may be unwittingly exposed to chemicals used while growing, processing and packaging of food. Thus, dietary chemicals include nutrients and bioactive chemicals that do not directly produce energy and man-made chemicals such as pesticides. These chemicals, in turn, affect the body in many ways, from disrupting hormone action to modulating gene expression to impairing cognitive function to increasing the risk of obesity. Data from numerous molecular and genetic epidemiological studies indicate that gene–environment interactions, via dietary changes, can interact in ways that modulate the risk for developing chronic diseases. Therefore, dietary intervention based on knowledge of nutritional requirement, nutrition status, and genotype can be used to prevent, mitigate or cure chronic disease.