The smoke from this devastating wildfire raging this summer isn't just bad for your lungs.
As air quality deteriorates, the number of department visits also appears to have increased, and the problem appears to be worsening, according to a new study.
Researchers found a spike in the number of eczema patients at Massachusetts General Hospital's Brigham and Women's Hospital** disease clinics during the wildfires raging in Canada this summer.
After hearing from many patients about their conditions such as eczema getting worse this summer, and some worse than ever, we were inspired to investigate the relationship between air pollution and inflammation, senior researcher Ari Nida Shuadi Coros, chief of the department at Massachusetts General Hospital, said in a press release.
This is strange because, in general, eczema sufferers are more likely to have worse or more severe symptoms in the winter due to cold, dry weather, but we are seeing the opposite: unusual outbreaks in the summer," says kourosh.
The researchers found that the MGB hospital system was about 300 miles away from the Canadian wildfires, and carbon monoxide (CO) levels peaked in July 2023 due to the fires.
The researchers compared the number of ** visits from 2019 to 2022 with carbon dioxide (CO) levels in the summer of 2023 and found that the number of visits was positively correlated with the level of carbon monoxide (CO) in the air.
Wildfire smoke and long-term air pollution, which contain substances such as carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter, can trigger a stress response that can lead to inflammation and damage, researchers say.
As wildfires increase in North America, it's important to not only do a good job of preventing and extinguishing fires, but also to clean or clean the air to minimize the negative impact of these air pollution events on the health of our communities," Casiniana Santiago Mangerwal, principal investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital, said at the launch.
These efforts will have the greatest impact on those most vulnerable to the negative effects of air pollution – including low-income groups, the elderly, and children," Manger added.
The findings were published Dec. 16 in the journal Diseases & Diseases.
More information. The American Society of Diseases has more information on the impact of forest fire smoke on the disease.
*: Massachusetts General Hospital, press release, December 18, 2023.
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