Or...Search this site Home Symptoms Live Discussion Diagnosis Treatment Area Support Library Research Lymelinks Contact Pets & Lyme DONATIONS Drug Info Medical Dictionary Board of Directors      Click on the graphic to vote for this site as a Starting Point Hot Site. -- No Warranties or Representations The data and information presented in this web site are presented in good faith and believed to be accurate. Any and all liability for the content or any omissions including any inaccuracies, errors, or misstatements in such data or information is expressly disclaimed. The web site is compiled for the sole purpose of informing community members of resources and information pertaining to Lyme Borreliosis Disease and its coinfections. The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, Directors and members are not liable for any direct or indirect damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tortious action arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of information available from this website. Consult a qualified Lyme ( Borreliosis ) Disease literate doctor for medical advice if Lyme Disease is suspect. en français For Physicians Ticks Coinfections Prevention Our Stories Click Here to order our free Lyme Disease Flyer,    Here for our free Lyme Disease Poster ..documents may be copied (to distribute) but edit only for alignment. Climate change 'bolsters diseases' January 7, 2004 - 5:05PM Global climate change could be pushing a rise in infectious diseases, respiratory illnesses, allergies and malnutrition, scientists warned. Dr Andy Haines and Dr Jonathan Patz warned in the Journal of the American Medical Association that the world's health systems should prepare for the increasing effects of climate change on health. "Physicians need to be aware of how current climate variability can affect health," they wrote. "Physicians can also educate communities about the potential impacts of climate change, the need to improve current public health infrastructure and participate in policies to decrease dependence on fossil fuels." More frequent heatwaves would impact on elderly and infirm city-dwellers, and floods and droughts would hurt populations in developing countries, the researchers said. "The health impacts include physical injury and increases in diarrhoeal diseases, ... increased incidence of respiratory infections and ... increases in suicide," they wrote. Drought would also lead to malnutrition as food production became more difficult. Atypical climatic conditions could cause a rise in dengue fever, hantavirus, cholera and encephalitis, while rising levels of air pollution had been associated with respiratory infection and disease. Warmer winters and a subsequent early start to spring may increase the intensity and duration of symptoms suffered by those prone to hay fever and other allergies, Drs Haines and Patz wrote. Meanwhile, changes in temperature, humidity, rainfall and sea level all pointed to an increase in infectious diseases. "There has been a resurgence of infectious diseases in recent years," the scientists said. Malaria, dengue fever, encephalitis and other mosquito-borne diseases proliferate in hot climates, while rising humidity increases the spread of tick-borne infection such as lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. "Relatively small increases in temperature in temperate regions ... should increase the potential for epidemics," the researchers observed. "Because of the wide-ranging potential impacts of global warming, a precautionary approach should be taken that seeks to decrease greenhouse gas emissions substantially." http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/07/1073437337180.html