Hello bjfp-ga,
Moving to an area with no or little air pollution will certainly be
beneficial.
The American Lung Association has this to say about emphysema and
pollution: “Reduce your exposure to air pollution, which may aggravate
symptoms of emphysema. Refer to radio or television weather reports or
your local newspaper for information about air quality. On days when
the ozone (smog) level is unhealthy, restrict your activity to early
morning or evening. When pollution levels are dangerous, remain
indoors and stay as comfortable as possible.”
http://www.lungusa.org/diseases/lungemphysem.html
Looking at the medical journal literature in the Medline database
(http://www.nlm.nih.gov) I found the following articles which provide
evidence:
1. Outdoor air pollution and emergency room visits at a hospital in
Delhi. By Pande JN, Bhatta N, Biswas D, Pandey RM, Ahluwalia G,
Siddaramaiah NH, Khilnani GC. Of Department of Medicine, All India
Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
Published in Indian Journal of Chest Diseases and Allied Sciences
2002 Jan-Mar;44(1):13-9
This study carried out in Dehli, India, found that the number of
people visiting the hospital emergency room for exacerbation of COPD
increased by about 25% when air pollution levels were high.
2 A study in 8 European cities also found that an increase in
pollution levels was paralleled by an increase in emergency hospital
admissions for COPD exacerbation:
Acute effects of particulate air pollution on respiratory admissions:
results from APHEA 2 project. Air Pollution and Health: a European
Approach. By Atkinson RW, Anderson HR, Sunyer J, Ayres J, Baccini M,
Vonk JM, Boumghar A, Forastiere F, Forsberg B, Touloumi G, Schwartz J,
Katsouyanni K. Published in Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2001 Nov
15;164(10 Pt 1):1860-6
3. Associations between daily mortalities from respiratory and
cardiovascular diseases and air pollution in Hong Kong, China. By Wong
TW, Tam WS, Yu TS, Wong AH. Of Department of Community and Family
Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 4/F School of Public
Health, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, N T, Hong Kong.
This study in Hong Kong found that the risk of death from COPD
increased as the levels of pollutants in the air increased.
4. A study in Barcelona showed that it is particles in the
atmosphere, eg soot, rather than gases such as carbon monoxide or
ozone, which are mainly responsible for pollution aggravating COPD and
increasing the risk of death:
Particles, and not gases, are associated with the risk of death in
patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. By Sunyer J,
Basagana X. of Unit of Respiratory and Environmental Research, IMIM,
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Published in Int J Epidemiol 2001 Oct;30(5):1138-40
5. However, a study in Rome found that gas pollutants are
nevertheless also important:
Air pollution and hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in
Rome, Italy by Fusco D, Forastiere F, Michelozzi P, Spadea T, Ostro B,
Arca M, Perucci CA of Agency for Public Health, Rome, Italy.
Published in Eur Respir J 2001 Jun;17(6):1143-50
I could list many more articles, but I think that these make the point
very clearly.
Other factors can also be important. Obviously smoking will make
things worse. However, I also found a paper in which the author
claims to show that getting a cold is the single most important factor
that makes COPD symptoms worse.
Exacerbations: etiology and pathophysiologic mechanisms. By Wedzicha
JA. Of Academic Unit of Respiratory Medicine, St. Bartholomew's
Hospital and Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Dominion
House, West Smithfield, London EC1A 7BE, UK
Published in Chest 2002 May;121(5 Suppl):136S-141S
There is a strong relationship between intensity of symptoms and
disease progress in COPD. The symptoms are due to inflammation, and
the inflammation arises because the lung tissue has been damaged.
Each bout of inflammation will add to scarring in the lungs and
therefore cause the disease to progress. A diet high in antioxidants,
ie high in fresh fruit and vegetables, especially the yellow, orange
and red ones, should help to negate some of these effects.
Search strategy: The NLM site is known to me. I used the browse
facility on Medline Plus patient information page.
On the Medline database I used the search expression (emphysema OR
COPD) AND pollution) |
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