Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) constitutes one of the main factors responsible for morbidity and mortality worldwide. Rhinitis has a high prevalence, but its relationship to COPD has not been determined. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of COPD and rhinitis in northern Greece and to examine their correlation. Patients andMethods: Of a total of 8,151 subjects (aged 21–80 years, from three regions of northern Greece) invited to participate in the study, 6,112 (75%) were included. The regions studied were: (a) Thessaloniki (1,733 study participants, 52.7 ± 18.6 years old), an urban area with particulate air pollution frequently exceeding the acceptable limit, (b) Eordea (3,537 study participants, 51.4 ± 15.5 years old), a typical industrial area with particulate air pollution with daily values exceeding the acceptable limit and (c) Grevena (842 study participants, 55.6 ± 15.4 years old), a mountainous area without pollution. The study participants filled in the questionnaire on respiratory symptoms of the Committee on Environmental and Occupational Health of the Medical Research Council and underwent spirometry and rhinomanometry tests. Results: The prevalence of COPD was 5.6% (8.2% in men and 2.5% in women) and that of rhinitis 24.7% (27.4% in men and 21.4% in women). COPD and rhinitis are related to common predisposing factors (smoking, age and sex). Moreover, rhinitis is related to particulate air pollution levels. Conclusions: The prevalence of COPD and rhinitis in northern Greece does not differentiate from that found in other industrial countries. A functional relationship between upper and lower airways is speculated.

SummaryAim: To investigate the prevalence of smoking in the general population and in specific population sub-groups in Northern Greece. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during the period 1999-2001 on a 5% sample (23,840) of those people aged between 21 to 80 out of a total general population of 653,249. 21,854/23,840 general population subjects were interviewed. In addition, we interviewed 9,276 high school students, 1,072 medical students, 597 medical doctors within the National Health System, 825 teachers, and 624 subjects who regularly exercised in a privately-owned gym. A specially modified ICRF study group questionnaire was used. Results: 34.4% of the general population sample were current smokers (47.8% of males and 21.6% of females). Smoking prevalence rates in the population sub-groups were: 29.6% of high school students; 40.7% of medical students; 44.9% of medical doctors; 46.4% of teachers; and 36.9% of the gym group. Conclusion: The prevalence of smoking in Northern Greece is high. High school and medical students present with high smoking rates, and the same situation is observed in medical doctors and teachers. An intensification of preventive antismoking measures is required.

Radiological appearance of pleural plaques and respiratory function of people previously exposed to asbestos environmental pollution worsens over the years. Prevalence of mesothelioma was found to be higher than expected.

We found that 168 children suffered from rhinitis, 84 from both asthma and rhinitis concurrently and 38 from asthma alone. Only 37 % of the parents knew that their children suffered from asthma, while even fewer (32 %) knew that their children had rhinitis. The prevalence of asthma was 6.1 % and that of rhinitis was 12.6 % among children aged 9-12 years in the area of Polichni, Thessaloniki. Childhood rhinitis and asthma seem to be frequently underdiagnosed and undertreated.

Lignite contains various trace-metal natural radioactive contaminants. In the Eordea Basin, the most important lignite field in Greece, the authors conducted a proportional mortality ratio (PMR) study that compared the mortality rates of individuals who lived in the basin vs. a control group who resided in the city of Kilkis, over a 30-yr period. The following information was used in the study: (a) municipal registrations of deaths from neoplasms during the period from 1971 to 2000, and (b) detection of radioactive substances in samples obtained from excised lungs of individuals living in Eordea Basin who suffered from neoplasm. The corresponding registrations of deaths from neoplasm of the inhabitants of Kilkis, a city located outside the Eordea Basin, formed the control group. A diachronic increase of the PMR was detected as a result of neoplasms and, particularly, as a result of lung cancer in Eordea Basin. However, the above ratio did not exceed the corresponding PMR recorded in Kilkis. In 20 lung samples obtained from patients who had lived in Eordea Basin, and in 19 lung samples from patients in Kilkis, the activity of the radionuclides of uranium and thorium radioactive decay series, potassium-40, and cesium-137 was not higher than expected. No statistically significant difference was found between the inhabitants of the 2 regions, thus it was concluded that the increase in respiratory-system neoplasms was likely associated with the high prevalence of smoking among the regions' inhabitants. In future studies, a longer observation period and examination of more cases will be necessary to further investigate a possible association between radionuclides and lung neoplasms in the Eordea Basin.