a Department of Anthropology , University at Albany , Albany , NY , USA.
b Wadsworth Center/New York State Department of Health , Albany , NY , USA.
J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev. 2018;21(1):24-46. doi: 10.1080/10937404.2017.1412212. Epub 2017 Dec 18.
A temporal trend can be seen in recent human history where the dominant causes of death have shifted from infectious to chronic diseases in industrialized societies. Human influences in the current "Anthropocene" epoch are exponentially impacting the environment and consequentially health. Changing ecological niches are suggested to have created health transitions expressed as modifications of immune balance from infections inflicting pathologies in the Holocene epoch (12,000 years ago) to human behaviors inflicting pathologies beginning in the Anthropocene epoch (300 years ago). A review of human immune health and adaptations responding to environmental (biological, chemical, physical, and psychological) stresses, which are influenced by social conditions, emphasize the involvement of fluctuations in immune cell subsets affecting influential gene-environment interactions. The literature from a variety of fields (anthropological, immunological, and environmental) is incorporated to present an expanded perspective on shifts in diseases within the context of immune balance and function and environmental immunology. The influences between historical and contemporary human ecology are examined in relation to human immunity. Several examples of shifts in human physiology and immunity support the premise that increased incidences of chronic diseases are a consequence of human modification of environment and lifestyle. Although the development of better health care and a broader understanding of human health have helped with better life quality and expectancy, the transition of morbidity and mortality rates from infections to chronic diseases is a cause for concern. Combinations of environmental stressors/pollutants and human behaviors and conditions are modulating the immune-neuroendocrine network, which compromises health benefits.
在人类近代历史中，可以看到一个趋势，即在工业化社会中，死亡的主要原因已经从传染病转变为慢性病。人类在当前的“人类世”时代对环境的影响呈指数级增长，从而对健康产生影响。有研究表明，不断变化的生态位正在导致健康转变，表现为从全新世（12000 年前）感染引发疾病的免疫平衡改变，到人类世（300 年前）开始由人类行为引发疾病的免疫平衡改变。本文回顾了人类对环境（生物、化学、物理和心理）压力的免疫健康和适应，这些压力受到社会条件的影响，强调了免疫细胞亚群波动对有影响力的基因-环境相互作用的影响。本文整合了来自多个领域（人类学、免疫学和环境学）的文献，从免疫平衡和功能以及环境免疫学的角度，提出了疾病转变的扩展观点。本文还研究了历史和当代人类生态学之间的相互影响与人类免疫之间的关系。人类生理学和免疫方面的几个转变例子支持了这样一个前提，即慢性病发病率的增加是人类对环境和生活方式改变的结果。尽管更好的医疗保健和更广泛的人类健康理解的发展有助于提高生活质量和预期寿命，但从传染病到慢性病的发病率和死亡率的转变令人担忧。环境压力源/污染物和人类行为和状况的组合正在调节免疫-神经内分泌网络，从而损害健康益处。
