The Effects of the Environmental Crisis on the Human Body: A Systematic Review

Introduction: The environmental crisis affects people’s health negatively at different levels. Aim: To investigate the effects of the environmental crisis on the human body within a global reference frame. Specifically, to review the effects of climate change, air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution and noise pollution on the human cardiovascular system, respiratory system, blood system, skin, sensory organs of hearing and eyesight and on the incidence of various infectious diseases, such as food borne diseases and diseases transmitted by vectors, water and air. Method: A systematic review of papers published up until March 2014 was conducted. Search was performed on PubMed, Scopus, Cinahl and ScienceDirect with the key-words: “Climate change”, “air pollution”, “water pollution”, “ground pollution”, “noise pollution”, “cardiovascular system”, “respiratory system”, “haemopoietic system”, “skin”, “auditory sense”, “eyesight”, “diseases and vectors”. The criteria for inclusion in this review were the demonstration of clear correlation between the environmental crisis and disorders of the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, hematopoietic system, skin, sensory organs of hearing and eyesight, or the incidence of various infectious diseases, such as food borne diseases and diseases transmitted by vectors, water and air. Results: Only 31 of the scientific papers retrieved met the criteria for inclusion in this review, of which 7 assessed the impact of the environmental crisis on the cardiovascular system, 4 on the respiratory system, 4 on the blood system, 4 on human skin, 2 on hearing, and 2 on eyesight, and 8 assessed the impact on the incidence of certain infectious diseases (of which 1 concerned food borne diseases, 3 water transmitted diseases, 3 vector borne diseases and 1 airborne diseases). These papers demonstrated that the environmental crisis affects the human body significantly, disrupting physiological functions in many ways. Conclusions: The environmental crisis affects the human body directly. For this reason, confrontation of the environmental crisis in an effective way is required, so as to improve the conditions of human existence and the adaptation of human beings.