Incitement, genocide, genocidal terror, and the upstream role of indoctrination: can epidemiologic models predict and prevent?

We apply the models and tools of epidemiology and public health to propose a unified field theory showing the role of ideologies, indoctrination, and incitement, in genocide, genocidal terror, and terror by groups or individuals. We examine the effects of indoctrination and incitement as exposures and risks in relation to genocide and genocidal terror. Incitement has been recognized as a trigger to these outcomes but indoctrination is upstream to incitement. Population-wide exposure to indoctrination increases susceptibility to the effects of incitement. These relationships have been seen in all major genocides and genocidal terror in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. There is some insight into the relationship between ideology, incitement, and genocidal acts of violence from the so-called localized genocides in Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur, Syria, and most recently, among the Rohingya in Myanmar. There is a need to recognize the upstream role of ideologies of hate in order to determine the degree to which indoctrination posed, and continues to pose, a contributing factor. Epidemiologic models, such as the iceberg model of exposure and disease and the concept of "sick individuals" and "sick populations," guide our understanding of the content and spread of indoctrination and incitement and can provide essential insights for prevention. The hateful indoctrination and ideologies behind genocidal violence must be countered and replaced by positive ideologies and role models that emphasize respect for life and human dignity for all.

Radio frequency radiation-related cancer: assessing causation in the occupational/military setting.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: We reexamine whether radio frequency radiation (RFR) in the occupational and military settings is a human carcinogen. METHODS: We extended an analysis of an already-reported case series of patients with cancer previously exposed to whole-body prolonged RFR, mainly from communication equipment and radar. We focused on hematolymphatic (HL) cancers. We used analysis by percentage frequency (PF) of a cancer type, which is the proportion of a specific cancer type relative to the total number of cancer cases. We also examined and analyzed the published data on three other cohort studies from similar military settings from different countries. RESULTS: The PF of HL cancers in the case series was very high, at 40% with only 23% expected for the series age and gender profile, confidence interval CI95%: 26-56%, p<0.01, 19 out of 47 patients had HL cancers. We also found high PF for multiple primaries. As for the three other cohort studies: In the Polish military sector, the PF of HL cancers was 36% in the exposed population as compared to 12% in the unexposed population, p<0.001. In a small group of employees exposed to RFR in Israeli defense industry, the PF of HL cancers was 60% versus 17% expected for the group age and gender profile, p<0.05. In Belgian radar battalions the HL PF was 8.3% versus 1.4% in the control battalions as shown in a causes of deaths study and HL cancer mortality rate ratio was 7.2 and statistically significant. Similar findings were reported on radio amateurs and Korean war technicians. Elevated risk ratios were previously reported in most of the above studies. CONCLUSIONS: The consistent association of RFR and highly elevated HL cancer risk in the four groups spread over three countries, operating different RFR equipment types and analyzed by different research protocols, suggests a cause-effect relationship between RFR and HL cancers in military/occupational settings. While complete measurements of RFR exposures were not available and rough exposure assessments from patients interviews and from partial exposure data were used instead, we have demonstrated increased HL cancers in occupational groups with relatively high RFR exposures. Our findings, combined with other studies, indicate that exposures incurred in the military settings evaluated here significantly increased the risk of HL cancers. Accordingly, the RFR military exposures in these occupations should be substantially reduced and further efforts should be undertaken to monitor and measure those exposures and to follow cohorts exposed to RFR for cancers and other health effects. Overall, the epidemiological studies on excess risk for HL and other cancers together with brain tumors in cellphone users and experimental studies on RFR and carcinogenicity make a coherent case for a cause-effect relationship and classifying RFR exposure as a human carcinogen (IARC group 1).

Trauma care and case fatality during a period of frequent, violent terror attacks and thereafter.

BACKGROUND: From September 1999 through January 2004 during the second Intifada (al-Aqsa), there were frequent terror attacks in Jerusalem. We assessed the effects on case fatality of introducing a specialized, intensified approach to trauma care at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Hospital Shock Trauma Unit (HHSTU) and other level I Israeli trauma units. This approach included close senior supervision of prehospital triage, transport, and all surgical procedures and longer hospital stays despite high patient-staff ratios and low hospital budgets. Care for lower income patients also was subsidized. METHODS: We tracked case fatality rates (CFRs) initially during a period of terror attacks (1999-2003) in 8,127 patients (190 deaths) at HHSTU in subgroups categorized by age, injury circumstances, and injury severity scores (ISSs). Our comparisons were four other Israeli level I trauma centers (n = 2,000 patients), and 51 level I U.S. trauma centers (n = 265,902 patients; 15,237 deaths). Detailed HHSTU follow-up continued to 2010. RESULTS: Five-year HHSTU CFR (2.62 %) was less than half that in 51 U.S. centers (5.73 %). CFR progressively decreased; in contrast to a rising trend in the US for all age groups, injury types, and ISS groupings, including gunshot wounds (GSW). Patients with ISS > 25 accounted for 170 (89 %) of the 190 deaths in HHSTU. Forty-one lives were saved notionally based on U.S. CFRs within this group. However, far more lives were saved from reductions in low CFRs in large numbers of patients with ISS < 25. CFRs in HHSTU and other Israeli trauma units decreased more through the decade to 1.9 % up to 2010. CONCLUSIONS: Sustained reductions in trauma unit CFRs followed introduction of a specialized, intensified approach to trauma care.

Human biomonitoring in Israel: past, present, future.

The first human biomonitoring (HBM) studies in Israel in the 1970s and 80s focused on measuring exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine insecticides in the general population and organophosphate pesticides in agricultural workers. In the late 1990 s, a regional human biomonitoring study found differences in blood lead levels in children from Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority. Taken together with data on time trends in lead emissions in Israel, the study indicated the benefits from phasing out of leaded gasoline. More recently, a pilot study in pregnant women in Jerusalem, conducted in collaboration with the US-CDC, found widespread exposure to phthalates, organophosphate pesticides, and the carbamate bendiocarb. Creatinine-adjusted total dimethyl (DM) metabolite concentrations were between 4 and 6 times higher than populations of pregnant women in the United States. The Israel Ministry of Health is currently collaborating with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Al Quds University to study exposures to phthalates and organophosphates in pregnant women in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The Israel Ministry of Health has also begun the first National Biomonitoring Study to measure exposures to bisphenol A, phthalates, organophosphates, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, the phytoestrogens genistein and daidzein, and cotinine in the Israeli adult population. This study is being carried out in collaboration with the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany. Until recently, HBM programs in Israel were targeted at selected occupational groups (workers potentially exposed to metals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and cholinesterase inhibitors) and naval divers potentially exposed to environmental contaminants. The future of HBM in Israel lies in extending such programs to measuring exposures in representative samples of the general population, increasing international collaboration in this field, developing analytical capacity and expertise, and increasing use of human biomonitoring studies in forming and evaluating environmental health policy.

Mesothelioma and asbestosis in a young woman following occupational asbestos exposure: Short latency and long survival: Case Report.

A 27-year-old female white-collar worker was diagnosed in 1998 with mesothelioma eight and one-half years following first exposure as a bystander to debris in a site in which asbestos-containing building materials were being dismantled and rebuilding work took place. Prodromal back pain had been present for a year and a half. She underwent extrapleural pneumectomy and received an intrapleural infusion of cisplatin post-operatively. Exposure to asbestos was verified by contemporary reports and lung biopsy, which demonstrated asbestos bodies and microscopic interstitial fibrosis -conforming evidence for asbestosis. The patient is alive and well 12 years after diagnosis and 14 years after onset of symptoms. The combination of an extremely short latency period and long survival following occupational exposure to asbestos dust is unique.

Peaceful use of disastrous neurotoxicants.

The increasing exposure to environmental neurotoxicants in the last decades caused serious health problems in the world population. Some of the neurotoxic agents are being used in agriculture and household such as insecticides and rodenticides and others are of natural origin like snake and scorpion venoms. Additional group of harmful substances is the chemical warfare agents including nerve and blistering agents that are known for their disastrous effects on neuronal tissues. The present paper presents a combination of epidemiological/clinical and molecular approaches for investigating the effect of certain groups of neurotoxicants on a variety of pathologies. The work of Finkelstein and coworkers describes epidemiological and clinical studies on acute and chronic organophosphate (OP)-induced neurotoxicity in certain populations in Israel. They mainly investigated the neurotoxic effects of low-level long-term exposure to OP in agricultural areas but also dealt with acute exposures as well. A molecular approach to OP mechanism of neuronal injury was described by Milatovic and coworkers. They demonstrated OP-induced oxidative injury in pyramidal neurons in the CA1 hippocampal area and its suppression by antioxidants. Lecht and coworkers described the novel snake venom angioneurins as important mediators of the physiological cross-talk between the cardiovascular and nervous systems. They also showed that under certain conditions these angioneurins may induce pathologies such as tumor development or disruption of the vascular barrier function during envenomation. Additional mechanistic/therapeutic approach was presented by Brodsky, Rosengarten, Proscura, Shapira and Wormser. They developed a novel anti-inflammatory peptide that reduced skin irritation induced by heat and sulfur mustard (SM) stimuli. Since SM causes neuropsychiatric symptoms and alterations in neurological functions this peptide may serve as a potential treatment of neuronal injuries caused by environmental neurotoxicants. These reviews highlight different aspects of neurotoxicity, addressing epidemiology and mechanisms of toxicity; and identifying novel potential therapies.

Exposure and susceptibility: schizophrenia in a young man following prolonged high exposures to organic solvents.

There is an abundant literature on the adverse effects of solvents on the neurobehavioral performance, higher brain functions, and chronic solvent-induced encephalopathy. However, the occurrence of solvent-related schizophrenia is rare, with few reports on the link between solvent exposure and schizophrenia. Here, we report on a patient with schizophrenia, presenting after a sustained period of 6 months of everyday exposure to neurotoxic solvents in an unprotected occupational setting in Haifa, Israel. In light of the similarity of symptoms of schizophrenia and chronic solvent encephalopathy, we call for further epidemiologic studies to examine the potential contribution of solvent exposure to the etiology and evolution of schizophrenia in selected cases. This case study and review of relevant literature underscores the importance of obtaining detailed histories on occupational exposures to search for agents which can trigger psychotic episodes. In the meantime, policies to prevent such exposures at the source can be expected to contribute to the prevention of a non-trivial proportion of neurotoxic diseases, including, possibly, schizophrenia in worker populations.

Long-term effects of repealing the national maximum speed limit in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: We examined the long-term effects of the 1995 repeal of federal speed limit controls on road fatalities and injuries in fatal crashes. METHODS: We used a Poisson mixed-regression model to assess changes in the number of fatalities and injuries in fatal crashes between 1995 and 2005 on rural interstates, where all US states have raised speed limits since the repeal, as well as on urban interstates and noninterstate roads, where many states have raised speed limits. RESULTS: We found a 3.2% increase in road fatalities attributable to the raised speed limits on all road types in the United States. The highest increases were on rural interstates (9.1%) and urban interstates (4.0%). We estimated that 12 545 deaths (95% confidence interval [CI] = 8739, 16 352) and 36 583 injuries in fatal crashes (95% CI = 29 322, 43 844) were attributable to increases in speed limits across the United States. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced speed limits and improved enforcement with speed camera networks could immediately reduce speeds and save lives, in addition to reducing gas consumption, cutting emissions of air pollutants, saving valuable years of productivity, and reducing the cost of motor vehicle crashes.

'Ethnic cleansing' bleaches the atrocities of genocide.

Genocide has been the leading cause of preventable violent death in the 20th-21st century, taking even more lives than war. The term 'ethnic cleansing' is used as a euphemism for genocide despite it having no legal status. Like 'Judenrein' and 'racial hygiene' in Nazi medicine, it expropriates pseudo-medical terminology to justify massacre. Use of the term reifies a dehumanized view of the victims as sources of filth and disease, and propagates the reversed social ethics of the perpetrators. Timelines for recent genocides (Bosnia, 1991-1996, 200,000; Kosovo 1998-2000, 10,000-20,000; Rwanda, 1994, 800,000; Darfur 2002-2006, >400,000) show that its use bears no relationship to death tolls or the scale of atrocity. Bystanders' use of the term 'ethnic cleansing' signals the lack of will to stop genocide, resulting in huge increases in deaths, and undermines international legal obligations to acknowledge genocide. The term 'ethnic cleansing' corrupts observation, interpretation, ethical judgment and decision-making, thereby undermining the aim of public health. Public health should lead the way in expunging the term 'ethnic cleansing' from official use. 'Ethnic cleansing' bleaches the atrocities of genocide, leading to inaction in preventing current and future genocides.

Malthusian pressures, genocide, and ecocide.

Historical models postulate that genocide cannot occur without the ideology and decisions of its authoritarian perpetrators and the indifference of bystanders. These models do not address genocidal risks from ecocide. Study objectives were to assess 1) the role of Malthusian pressures in recent genocides, 2) the role of ecocide and ecologic abuse in creating these pressures, and 3) strategies for prevention and deterrence. Analysis of reports, demographic studies, and time trends in recent genocides and recent ecocidal events from ecologic abuse suggests that Malthusian pressures and zero-sum rivalries over water, arable land, or natural resources by themselves do not lead to genocide. Such pressures may have exacerbated the political and socioeconomic predictors in Rwanda and Darfur, but not in former Yugoslavia. However, collapse of socioeconomic and governmental infrastructures following genocide can leave behind massive sustained damage to carrying capacity and sustainability. Surviving victims, if they return to their environments, will remain at risk for persecution. Ecocide--the large-scale destruction, depletion, or contamination of natural ecosystems--can result in widespread damage to health, survival, fertility, reproduction, and sustenance, and forced flight. International early warning and effective response systems are needed to deter or prevent political decisions to carry out genocide. Such systems must include long-term measures to resolve zero-sum conflicts over environmental resources and to prevent toxic risks to vulnerable populations and destruction of habitat by deliberate or wanton ecologic abuse, which itself should be redefined as a crime against humanity.

Raised speed limits, case fatality and road deaths: a six year follow-up using ARIMA models.

BACKGROUND: In November 1993, the Israeli government increased the speed limit for all vehicles from 90 to 100 km per hour on a total of 115 km of its three major interurban highways. DESIGN/ SETTING: We use ARIMA time series intervention models to evaluate the effect of the raise in speed limit on fatalities, serious injuries, and case-fatality for years 1988-1999. Motor vehicle crash data came from the Central Bureau of Statistics of Israel. RESULTS: Between January 1988 and December 1999, a total of 6029 persons were killed and 45 616 were seriously injured on roads in Israel. For all roads combined, the time series ARIMA model indicated that there were 4.69 more deaths per month (p<0.001), or 347 more than expected in the post-intervention period. Case-fatality rate (CFR) on all roads combined rose significantly (p<0.001). Modified case-fatality rate (CFRS) showed an increase of 2.5 deaths per 100 serious casualties (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The impact of raised speed limits was immediate and sustained. The largest increase in deaths occurred on interurban roads but a spillover effect was observed on urban roads as well. The increases in deaths and case-fatality rates persisted six years after the speed limit change despite major countermeasures and increasing congestion throughout the period of follow-up.