cause and effect

Examples of cause and effect in the following topics:

• Correlation is Not Causation

  • The assumption that correlation proves causation is considered a "questionable cause logical fallacy," in that two events occurring together are taken to have a cause-and-effect relationship.
  • The use of HRT and decreased incidence of coronary heart disease were coincident effects of a common cause (i.e. the benefits associated with a higher socioeconomic status), rather than cause and effect, as had been supposed.
  • In other words, there can be no conclusion made regarding the existence or the direction of a cause and effect relationship only from the fact that A and B are correlated.
  • Determining whether there is an actual cause and effect relationship requires further investigation, even when the relationship between A and B is statistically significant, a large effect size is observed, or a large part of the variance is explained.
  • The greenhouse effect is a well-known cause-and-effect relationship.

• Genetic Defects from Radiation

  • Ionizing radiation from fallout can cause genetic effects, birth defects, cancer, cataracts, and other organ and tissue defects.
  • The medical effects of a nuclear blast upon humans can be put into four categories:
  • Initial stage: the first 1–9 weeks; the period with the greatest number of deaths—90 percent due to thermal injury and/or blast effects and 10 percent due to super-lethal radiation exposure.
  • Ionizing radiation from fallout can cause genetic effects, birth defects, cancer, cataracts, and other organ and tissue defects.
  • Recognize the name of the genetic defect that has been shown to be caused by acute radiation exposure during pregnancy

• Effects of Drug Combinations

  • Pharmacodynamics is the study of the biochemical and physiological effects of drugs on the body or on microorganisms or parasites within or on the body.
  • It also looks at the mechanisms of drug action and the relationship between drug concentration and effect.
  • These changes are extraordinarily difficult to classify given the wide variety of modes of action that exist and the fact that many drugs can cause their effect through a number of different mechanisms.
  • Interactions between alcohol and certain antibacterials may occur, cause side-effects, and decrease effectiveness of antibacterial therapy.
  • Potential risks of side-effects and effectiveness depend on the type of antibacterial administered.

• Effects of Smoking

  • The health effects of tobacco are the circumstances, mechanisms, and factors of tobacco consumption on human health.
  • It also causes peripheral vascular disease and hypertension.
  • The effects depend on the number of years that a person smokes and on how much the person smokes.
  • Also, environmental tobacco smoke, or second hand smoke, has been shown to cause adverse health effects in people of all ages.
  • Figure 2 summarizes the effect of smoking on health.

• Changes in Equilibrium for Shifts in Market Supply and Market Demand

  • This increases the cost of leisure and causes the supply of labor to rise - this is the substitution effect, which states that as the relative price of one good increases, consumption of that good will decrease.
  • However, there is also an income effect - an increased wage means higher income, and since leisure is a normal good, the quantity of leisure demanded will go up.
  • In general, at low wage levels the substitution effect dominates the income effect and higher wages cause an increase in the supply of labor.
  • At high incomes, however, the negative income effect could offset the positive substitution effect and higher wage levels could actually cause labor to decrease.
  • All of the above may cause the demand for labor to shift and change the equilibrium quantity and price of labor.

• Viral Pneumonia

  • Less commonly, it is caused by certain drugs and other conditions.
  • Viruses and bacteria are the two leading causes of pneumonia, while fungi and parasites are less common.
  • In addition to their effects on the lungs, many viruses affect other organs and can lead to illnesses that affect other bodily functions.
  • Common viruses that cause pneumonia include influenza viruses A and B, respiratory syncytial viruses (RSV), and human parainfluenza viruses (hPIV), the last of which particularly affects children.
  • Rarer viruses that commonly cause pneumonia include adenoviruses (in military recruits), metapneumoviruses, and severe acute respiratory syndrome virus (SARS coronavirus).

• Organ Toxicity

  • The use of antimicrobial drugs can have many unintended side-effects.
  • As drugs are quite often broken down in the liver, they can accumulate there and cause damage, or the byproducts of a drug's metabolism can be toxic.
  • The Tetracycline in a patient's skin becomes toxic when exposed to sunlight, which causes an allergic reaction and leads to rash on the affected area.
  • This can lead to any number of psychological effects from mild cognitive dysfunction (brain fog) to more severe effects, such as hallucinations and suicidal thoughts.
  • Outline the two major types of organ toxicity and their effects, recognizing additional types of toxicity

• Adrenergic Neurons and Receptors

  • Adrenaline (epinephrine) reacts with both α and βadrenoreceptors, causing vasoconstriction and vasodilation, respectively.
  • This triggers all other effects.
  • Further effects include glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis from adipose tissue and liver, as well as secretion from sweat glands and Na+ reabsorption from kidney.
  • increases cardiac output, by raising heart rate (positive chronotropic effect), increasing impulse conduction (positive dromotropic effect), and increasing contraction (positive inotropic effect), thus increasing the volume expelled with each beat (increased ejection fraction);
  • Adrenaline and noradrenaline are ligands to α1, α2, or β-adrenergic receptors. α1 receptors couple to Gq, resulting in increased intracellular Ca2+ and causing smooth muscle contraction. α2 receptors couple to Gi, causing a decrease in cAMP activity and resulting in smooth muscle contraction. β receptors couple to Gs, increasing intracellular cAMP activity and resulting in heart muscle contraction, smooth muscle relaxation and glycogenolysis.

• Fiscal Policy and the Multiplier

  • Fiscal policy can have a multiplier effect on the economy.
  • For example, if a $100 increase in government spending causes the GDP to increase by $150, then the spending multiplier is 1.5.
  • The size of the multiplier effect depends upon the fiscal policy.
  • There is no direct effect on aggregate demand by government purchases of goods and services.
  • The multiplier effect determines the extent to which fiscal policy shifts the aggregate demand curve and impacts output.

• Substance Abuse and Health

  • Substance abuse, or the habitual, harmful use of drugs, can have detrimental effects on the mind and body.
  • Substance abuse can have a variety of detrimental effects on the mind and body of the user.
  • Substance abuse can have a notable adverse effect on mood, increase the risk of mental illness, and exacerbate preexisting symptoms.
  • A user's mental state may cause them to take unnecessary risks or engage in self harm or aggressive behavior toward others.
  • Yet another set of secondary effects stems from the unhealthy conditions in which substances are often consumed: for instance, sharing or using unsterilized needles can cause users to contract AIDS, hepatitis, or other diseases.