Respiratory problems on rise with global warming
POSTED February 22, 2009 - 21:40 | POSTED BY Pragati Khond
Last edited by Shikha Patial on February 22, 2009 - 22:43
Washington, February 22: Global mercury rise across the planet may aggravate respiratory problems resulting in an increased hospitalization worldwide, warned researchers.
A multi-centered three-year collaboration, involving epidemiologists, meteorologists and public health experts, PHEWE (Assessment and Prevention of Acute Health Effects of Weather Conditions in Europe) studied climate change effects in Europe over a short term collecting data from almost 12 cities ranging from Dublin to Valencia.
Based on this data analysis, researchers commented that global warming is no longer just a scientific theory but a present day reality that is invading people's life and affecting their health negatively.
They believe that extreme climatic conditions will intensify weather conditions and summers are bound to grow scorching and hotter.
An increase of one degree in temperature leads to almost 4 percent raise in hospitalization following respiratory tract problems including asthma. But it is not known to affect cardiovascular or neurovascular- related problems so far.
Paola Michelozzi, Ph.D. and head of Environmental Epidemiology at the Department Epidemiology of Rome's Local Health Authority, quoted: "The PHEWE project represents the first attempt to evaluate the effect of temperature on several morbidity outcomes using a standardized methodology in a multi-center European study."
The study, whose findings appear in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of the American Thoracic Society, studies hospitalization patterns in 12 European cities over a period of three years between 1990 and 2001.
After analyzing meteorological and air pollution data along with hospitalization figures, researchers calculated a maximum apparent temperature indicated as "Tappmax" for each of the city, taking into account air temperature and humidity both.
Dublin and Valencia had a Tappmax of 14.7ºC (58ºF) and 29.5ºC (85ºF) respectively. According to researchers, people aged over 75 were badly affected by asthmatic problems arising from global temperature rise. Every one degree mercury rise resulted in an increased hospitalization figures.
The number of hospital admissions due to cardiovascular problems decreased during that time, even though temperature rise is known to affect cardiovascular problems.
"The contrasting pattern between admissions and mortality could also be related to differences in physio-pathologic mechanisms. Cardiovascular deaths during hot days tend to occur suddenly in persons whose health is compromised. Respiratory mortality, on the contrary, tends to peak later than cardiovascular mortality, with effects observed up to three weeks after exposure," Dr. Michelozzi wrote in the study findings.
Various results were obtained across the 12 cities for increase of respiratory-related hospitalizations and so, researchers feel the need of a more detailed study on the subject.
According to Dr. Michelozzi, "This is in part due to differences in exposure, the large variability among the cities analyzed, the differences in adaptive capacity and the vulnerability of populations due to their socio-demographic characteristics, as well as differences in the preventive measures in place."
"Moreover, across European countries there is wide variation in healthcare and hospital admissions availability. Although all these differences are important, our results document an effect of high temperature on hospital admissions for respiratory causes in several cities, and this is the strength of the study," said Dr.Michelozzi.
"These findings are important for public health because the prevalence of chronic diseases, such as COPD, is expected to increase in developed countries as a result of population aging."
"Furthermore, under climate change scenarios, the increase in extreme weather events and certain air pollutants, especially ozone, are likely to further aggravate chronic respiratory diseases. Public health interventions should be directed at preventing this additional burden of disease during the summer season. The observed heterogeneity of the health effects indicates a need to tailor programs for individual cities."
