Influence of air pollution on chronic obstructive respiratory diseases: comparison between city (Rome) and hillcountry environments and climates.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPDs) constitute a social problem of widespread interest. These diseases increase slowly and constantly. Air pollution and its impact on public health continually repropose certain absolute priorities, such as the pin-pointing of strategies to control the pollution sources, the planning of observational studies and the epidemic control. This work shows that a climate marked by always windy weather and low humidity and with low chemical pollutant concentrations (Pietracupa; Molise, Italy) is connected to smaller prevalence of COPDs in comparison with big cities like Rome. Living in non-polluted areas, the benefits of a healthy climate in terms of an improvement in breathing and bronchial hyperactivity reduction, may only in part be backed up by epidemic evidence; however, they are a solid base on which to build definite research projects which can effectively validate it even from an experimental point of view supported by statistics.
Avino
Pasquale
P
Laboratorio Inquinamento Chimico dell'Aria, DIPIA-ISPESL, Via Urbana 167, 00184 Rome, Italy. pasquale.avino@uniromal.it
De Lisio
Vincenzo
V
Grassi
Marcello
M
Lucchetra
Maria C
MC
Messina
Baldassare
B
Monaco
Giorgio
G
Petraccia
Luisa
L
Quartieri
Giuseppe
G
Rosentzwig
Rivka
R
Russo
Mario V
MV
Spada
Sebastiano
S
Valenzi
Vincenzo I
VI
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000506:poisoning*; D002980:Climate; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012384:Rome / Q000453:epidemiology; D012424:Rural Population; D014505:Urban Population
D000393:Air Pollutants