About this Research Topic
Health and well-being promotion and disease prevention are among the main goals of public health. To minimize disease risks and adverse health outcomes it is necessary to recognize risk factors and conditions that impair human health. Increasing evidence suggests that impaired immune function, cancer, infertility, thyroid diseases, respiratory diseases, neurological disorders, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have been associated with environmental exposure. Moreover, many NCDs have their origins in exposures and behaviors during critical periods of an organism's development, such as fetal development and puberty. However, insufficient data exist on causal links between exposure to environmental risk factors and adverse health outcomes.
Numerous environmental risk factors with unhealthy lifestyle choices and behaviors interplay with the genetic background (genome and epigenome) in disease development and progression. Advances in understanding how environmental factors interact with biomolecules in an organism producing structural, physiological, and metabolic changes will provide insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the NCD's development. The exposome concept which is defined by the totality of exposures throughout life and resulting molecular products inside the organism is a promising tool linking complex environmental risk factors and noncommunicable disease. New methodologies and approaches such as “multiomics”, in vitro 2D and 3D models, and computational approaches, could advance our understanding of the health impact of various environmental factors.
The aim of this Research Topic is to present the recent progress in understanding the health effects of environmental risk factors addressing their effects on molecular processes in the body that may be involved in pathogenesis and the progression of different NCDs. By integrating data obtained using various methodologies and approaches, it may be possible to understand how simultaneous exposure to numerous risk factors affects key biochemical processes and to elucidate causal links between critical exposure and disease. It is important to consider the complex interplay among multifactorial causes of diseases, the relevance of exposures at different phases of life, epidemiologic challenges, and the identification of factors that contribute to interindividual variability and unexplained susceptibility.
We encourage researchers to submit original research articles, reviews, perspectives, and commentaries on this important topic.
Numerous environmental risk factors with unhealthy lifestyle choices and behaviors interplay with the genetic background (genome and epigenome) in disease development and progression. Advances in understanding how environmental factors interact with biomolecules in an organism producing structural, physiological, and metabolic changes will provide insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the NCD's development. The exposome concept which is defined by the totality of exposures throughout life and resulting molecular products inside the organism is a promising tool linking complex environmental risk factors and noncommunicable disease. New methodologies and approaches such as “multiomics”, in vitro 2D and 3D models, and computational approaches, could advance our understanding of the health impact of various environmental factors.
The aim of this Research Topic is to present the recent progress in understanding the health effects of environmental risk factors addressing their effects on molecular processes in the body that may be involved in pathogenesis and the progression of different NCDs. By integrating data obtained using various methodologies and approaches, it may be possible to understand how simultaneous exposure to numerous risk factors affects key biochemical processes and to elucidate causal links between critical exposure and disease. It is important to consider the complex interplay among multifactorial causes of diseases, the relevance of exposures at different phases of life, epidemiologic challenges, and the identification of factors that contribute to interindividual variability and unexplained susceptibility.
We encourage researchers to submit original research articles, reviews, perspectives, and commentaries on this important topic.
Keywords: environmental health, non-communicable diseases, exposome, metabolic pathways
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