Respiratory health and ecosyndemics in a time of global warming

Abstract

Respiratory risks to human health are on the rise around the globe, at least in part, because anthropogenic environmental changes are increasing and multiplying the likelihood of respiratory disease comorbidity and disease interaction, a health consequence termed an ecosyndemic. The immediate objective of this paper is to examine the nature and growing prevalence of ecosyndemics under conditions of mounting environmental imbalance and climate change as exemplified by asthma and other increasingly frequent respiratory diseases. More broadly, the paper seeks to contribute to increased understanding of the critical role of syndemics in shaping global health and the value of a political ecology of respiratory health perspective.

Keywords:

• respiratory heath
• ecosyndemics
• asthma
• health disparities
• social origins of health