Air pollution and exacerbations of bronchitis

Lawther, P. J.; Waller, R. E.; Henderson, Maureen

doi:10.1136/thx.25.5.525

Cited by 166 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The degree of illness in patients with bronchitis keeping personal diaries was closely related to daily values of air pollution (14). The lowest concentrations leading to a significant response in these patients were about 0.5 mg/m3 of SO2 together with 0.25 mg/m3 of smoke (24-hr averages).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Morbidity has been analyzed in several earlier smog situations (10,13,14). Hospital admissions in London (10) showed a significant correlation for respiratory or cardiovascular conditions with smoke and S02.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rationale for this definition is the experience from earlier smog episodes, that health effects might follow with a delay of 1 to 2 days after the smog. The other 5 weeks (anuary [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16], January 24-February 13) are referred to as control period while the whole time interval (anuary 3-February 13) will be denoted as the period of observation. Due to a shorter time interval for data collection, the period of observation for ambulance transports is restricted to January 3-February 6. To allow for a comparison between areas with different degrees of pollution, the study was extended to the state of North-rhine Westfalia with about 16 million inhabitants, 6 million of them living in the polluted area, 4 million in an area with an intermediate degree of air pollution, and 6 million in the control area, which has a low degree of air pollution.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Health effects during a smog episode in West Germany in 1985.

Wichmann

Mueller

Allhoff

et al. 1989

Environ Health Perspect

131

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In January 1985 a smog period occurred for 5 days in parts of West Germany, including the Rhur District. Mortality (24,000 death certificates), morbidity in hospitals (13,000 hospital admissions, 5400 outpatients, 1500 ambulance transports) and consultations in doctors' offices (1,250,000 contacts) were studied for a 6-week period including the smog episode and a time interval before and thereafter. The study region was the State of North Rhine-Westfalia (16 million inhabitants), but the analysis is restricted to the comparison of the polluted area and a control area (6 million inhabitants each). During the smog period, mortality and morbidity in hospitals increased in the polluted area, but there was no substantial increase in the control area. The increases were for the total number of deaths 8 vs. 2% (polluted area vs. control area), for hospital admissions 15 vs. 3%, for outpatients 12 vs. 5% and for deliveries by ambulance to hospitals 28% in the polluted area (not investigated in the control area). The effects were more pronounced for cardiovascular diseases than for respiratory diseases. The consultations in doctors' offices show a slight decrease (-2 vs. -4%). Regression analysis shows a moderate influence of temperature, but a strong influence of ambient air pollution. The maxima of the ambient concentrations are more important on the same day, whereas the influence of the daily averages is more pronounced after a delay of 2 days. The results are discussed considering other possible confounders such as indoor pollution and psychogenic influences of the alarm situation. In total, the study suggests moderate health effects due to increased air pollution during the smog episode.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Health effects during a smog episode in West Germany in 1985.

Wichmann

Mueller

Allhoff

et al. 1989

Environ Health Perspect

131

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Respiratory and circulatory wellbeing may also be adversely affected by daily variations in ambientair quality. Increases in daily air-pollution levels in London, rather than plain weather, were associated with an exacerbation of chronic bronchitis for the periods 1959-1960, 1964-1965, and 1967-1968(Lawther et al 1970). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Effect of particulate matter, atmospheric gases, temperature, and humidity on respiratory and circulatory diseases’ trends in Lisbon, Portugal

Freitas

Pacheco

Verburg

et al. 2009

Environ Monit Assess

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This study addresses the significant effects of both well-known contaminants (particles, gases) and less-studied variables (temperature, humidity) on serious, if relatively common, respiratory and circulatory diseases. The area of study is Lisbon, Portugal, and time series of health outcome (daily admissions in 12 hospitals) and environmental data (daily averages of air temperature, relative humidity, PM 10 , SO 2 , NO, NO 2 , CO, and O 3 ) have been gathered for 1999-2004 to ascertain (1) whether concentrations of air pollutants and levels of temperature and humidity do interfere on human health, as gauged by hospital admissions due to respiratory and circulatory ailments; and (2) whether there is an effect of population age in such admissions. In general terms, statistically significant ( p < 0.001) correlations were found between hospital admissions and temperature, humidity, PM 10 , and all gaseous pollutants except CO and NO. Age appears to influence respiratory conditions in association with temperature, whereas, for circulatory conditions, such an influence likely involves temperature as well as the gaseous pollutants NO 2 and SO 2 .

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“…In a metaanalysis for COPD subjects, Dockery and Pope (1994) estimated that a 10 mg/m 3 increase in PM 10 was associated with a 3.4% increase in mortality. Daily emergency room admissions for COPD in Barcelona were found to be associated with particle and SO 2 concentrations (Sunyer et al, 1991) as was an increase in respiratory symptoms during the 1960s pollution episodes in Londoners with COPD (Lawther et al, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Exposure time and place: Do COPD patients differ from the general population?

Leech

Smith‐Doiron

2005

J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol

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Time-activity patterns in a panel of 70 patients with COPD (35 males) are compared to an age-matched subgroup from the randomly sampled Canadian Human Activity Pattern Survey. Total time indoors and outdoors were similar in both groups but significantly more indoor time in COPD subjects was spent at home than the indoor time of controls, who were more often indoors elsewhere. As part of improving their indoor air at home, COPD subjects were significantly more likely to have air conditioning at home. These results suggest that while outdoor air exposure strategies need not differ in COPD subjects from normals, indoor mitigation strategies should emphasize source pollutant control in the patient's home.

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Air pollution and exacerbations of bronchitis

Cited by 166 publications

References 4 publications

Health effects during a smog episode in West Germany in 1985.

Health effects during a smog episode in West Germany in 1985.

Effect of particulate matter, atmospheric gases, temperature, and humidity on respiratory and circulatory diseases’ trends in Lisbon, Portugal

Exposure time and place: Do COPD patients differ from the general population?

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