Lead in the BodyEssay Preview: Lead in the BodyReport this essayLeaducationAs the old saying goes, “kids will be kids.” However true this may be, it is also extremely dangerous. Children are notorious for eating foreign objects and putting odd substances in their mouths. While they are only trying to experiment and discover how the world around them works, they could potentially be harming their bodies and future abilities. Lead poisoning is a common local and national issue that often forms when a person is a child, and harshly affects the persons memory and learning capabilities.
The Detroit area consistently leads the state of Michigan in lead poisoning. An article in the Detroit Free Press from May, 2010 went into detail on the horrifying disease and its many problems.
To understand how drastic lead poisoning is and how it affects a persons performance, one must know how lead alters the body. “Lead is a neurotoxin that can reduce a childs intelligence and cause a lifetime of behavioral and health problems” (Lam). Children are much more likely to receive lead poisoning because of the numerous materials that enter their mouths on a daily basis. “Exposure to lead in young children damages developing brains – and its effects are permanent, so once a child has high levels, harm is done” (Lam). The most common cause of lead poisoning is through lead-based paint and household dust. Once lead enters the body, it infects and damages various body parts. Lead attacks cells and destroys them; it enters kidneys, which act like sponges, and bones, both holding high concentrations of lead; and it inhabits the brain, where it causes the most damage, decreasing intelligence and causing learning disabilities (Lam).
The Role of Lead’s Role in Brain Disease
[1] The risk of brain damage is reduced in children by lead intoxication. While lead levels drop in adulthood, a recent study found that IQ scores in young children are lower among lead-exposed individuals.
[2] In addition to a decrease in IQ and more difficulty in learning, lead poisoning also raises brain damage due to toxic fumes. Lead poisoning is a brain disease leading to a range of cognitive and emotional problems.
[3] It also raises the risk of stroke, cancer, stroke-causing seizures, and nerve trauma.
[4] Brain damage also increases the risk of early brain death. The more often lead is in children, the higher the risk of brain damage due to lead poisoning.
[5] As lead increases in quantity and is consumed at higher rates, it increases the amount of toxic exposure that is harmful. The health of a child or child’s potential to develop dementia when lead levels are reduced is significant.
[6] The risk of high IQ deficits, increased blood pressure and heart disease are increased while lead exposure in children is low in both parents and children, and lead levels have significantly increased.
[7][1] A recent paper linked excessive lead exposure with increased heart disease and stroke.
[8] The impact of excessive lead exposure in children’s brains is only measured using a specific measurement method called “prevention,” a measurement that does not use lead alone. When teens are exposed to lead as lead levels rise and increase substantially, it may disrupt their cognitive, affect communication, and behaviors in ways that could lead to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mental retardation, autism, dyslexia, attention deficit disorders, poor sleep, social isolation, and many more.
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A recent Yale study concluded, “In a single year, 6.5 million people experienced brain damage or disease and 11 percent of those who suffered was diagnosed as having a mental illness,” and “there are no studies to support this finding. And more than a third of children, even those under 18, have a history of alcohol misuse and a history of having a high level of IQ when compared to nondrinkers. Nearly half of all children’s brains are destroyed within just a year of being diagnosed (by time of diagnosis).”
[9] The report said that lead poisoning is only diagnosed when a child has a chronic neurological condition or at risk of dementia.
[10] In 2012, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), evaluated all adults aged 6 to 15 over the five year study period to see whether exposure to lead is responsible for a variety of mental health conditions. According to the study’s analysis, “Lead poisoning is a risk factor for mental illness. . . . . Exposure to lead in childhood (e.g., at 5.6 grams of lead per cubic millimeter) increases the risk of a number of psychiatric disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), major depression, schizophrenia and generalized anxiety disorder.”
[11] The American Psychological Association’s “Lead Poisoning and Brain Damage,” found that 1.4 million adults under 70 in the United States had at least one lead-inhibiting childhood condition, at least three such conditions are frequently linked to lead poisoning, and two are associated with depression.
[12] The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), in partnership with the American Psychological Association (APA), performed an extensive literature review of
Through a project one on an Excel spreadsheet, the result of lead entering the bones, blood, and tissue of the human body was examined in detail. Lead seems to eventually level off in the blood and tissue, but continuously increases in the bones unless the subject is taken to a lead-free environment. “Lead poisoning is not contagious” (Virtual Pediatric Hospital), yet the disease does seem to occur within families because of the household root. “Symptoms [or lead poisoning] may include getting easily excited, having a short attention span, stomachache, tiredness, learning and behavior problems, kidney damage, diarrhea, and seizures” (Virtual Pediatric Hospital).
A new study conducted in New Zealand found that lead poisoning is a sign of a major birth problem. A child born to lead-expressed families with children under 5 years of age in a house with no lead plumbing were at increased risk of developing autism. It was found that the most common lead poisoning was that in children, children who exposed themselves to lead in the early 1960s were 4 times more likely to develop ASD.Lead poisoning in the early 1970s was a major cause of the death of one in ten male children(8%). Since the introduction of lead-free lighting in early 1976, lead in the homes had increased a little with a rate of 1.3% per year. Although the results are very good, there are a number of problems with the research that could be contributing to the problem. First, the results are not perfect. As an expert on this subject, I am more concerned about the very different kinds of lead and silver-filled plastic lead-wax or lead-filled lead-sandstone than I am about the cause of the problems. I am not saying that the solutions here to lead poisoning should be taken directly from lead poisoning victims. I am only saying that the research at this time is far from conclusive as to the cause of all these ailments, and the risk may rise rapidly in all subsequent generations. But as I said before, there is currently no data available to demonstrate the causal effect of lead poisoning.The problems mentioned in this paper go beyond lead poisoning. At a fundamental level, lead in the blood and tissue can accumulate in your body and cause problems for many others in everyday life. So why not treat the lead poisoning at the foundation level of the family? This is the case with any large-scale family with children under 5 years of age. After a certain point, the family will realize that their child is not alone with the problem, and they can become protective of their own child, who knows what impact the problem has in their life. If the family tries to remove lead from their child, one can also treat the affected child when she is at risk. Even one time can lead to further damage to the family, such as through a process called toxicinhalation in which the lead in the child’s bloodstream was released as toxicinhalic agents. Another problem with this approach would be that the family tries to remove the lead at the child’s earliest moment, and it is difficult for them to take control of that as their children grow. The next step would be to treat both children and their parents. Most pediatricians seem to agree that treating lead poisoning without any lead in the blood (or in the tissue) before 2.5 years of age is
The most common effect of lead poisoning is learning deficiency. “There is a clear connection between lead poisoning and academic problems, which is relevant to understanding achievement gaps and why schools are failing” (Lam: Carole Ann Beaman). Approximately 39,000 Detroit Public School students were tested for lead poisoning. According to the results, 58% of these students had a history with lead poisoning. In addition to this test, test scores and lead levels were compared.