INCREASED air pollution leads to surges in the numbers of people with chronic breathing problems attending hospitals and GPs surgeries, a new study has shown.
Researchers at Dundee University studied nearly 15 years of data for air pollution levels in Dundee, Perth and the surrounding area and matched it to medical records of 450 patients who suffer from bronchiectasis, a long-term chronic condition which can cause a persistent cough and breathlessness as well as frequent chest infections.
Professor James Chalmers, GSK/British Lung Foundation Professor of Respiratory Research in the School of Medicine at Dundee said: “When we looked at these two sets of data side-by-side the links between the periods when air pollution is at its worst and when these patients are having to seek assistance is absolutely clear.
“Our data suggests that a failure to tackle air pollution is having a major impact on the health of people with lung conditions and potentially the wider Tayside population.
“The patients we looked at, who all suffer from lung conditions, are to my mind the canary in the coalmine on this issue – they are the first and most seriously affected by air pollution but it can affect us all.
“What is worrying is that after big improvements in air quality in the 1990s and 2000s, progress has slowed in the past 10 years.”
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