This is how pollution affects health

The Atmospheric pollution is a potential risk to health of people. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "urban air pollution increases the risk of acute respiratory diseases, such as pneumonia, and chronic, such as lung cancer and cardiovascular disease."

However, air pollution affects people differently. Thus, the most serious effects occur in people who are already sick. And the most vulnerable groups are the children, the elderly and low-income families and with limited access to medical assistance.

The WHO calculates that in the world mueren 1.3 million people per year because of urban air pollution and that more than half of these deaths occur in developing countries. In Spain, Are accounted forUp to 15,000 premature deaths annual for the consequences of air pollution on health: respiratory, cardiovascular, skin, psychological ... are some of the most frequent.


Dr. Alberto García Valdés, Head of endocrinology and nutrition at the San Francisco de Asis Hospital, explains how affects pollution to health

Pollution affects the immune system

Good health depends in large part on a strong immune system, which is the one that has the capacity to protect the body against diseases. Among the factors that can alter immune defenses there is the exposure maintained to a contaminated air, which alters the reactive cellular and humoral capacity of the organism.

The environment in which many millions of people live has been filled with irritants and allergens that had never before been at those levels. The consequence of pollution is the spectacularincrease in the incidence of cancer, hormonal alterations, infertility, neurological pathologies, allergic processes, autoimmune diseases... and all these pathologies are related to environmental factors


 

The high levels of pollution and its relation to mental health

Stress is the response of living beings to adapt to changing environmental conditions and puts us on alert when we perceive danger, or adapts us to perform a certain activity. However, when our capacity for response or resistance is overcome by the persistence or intensity of the aggression, a chronic state of neuroendocrinological defense occurs and subsequently an exhaustion, which gives rise to many mental or psychological diseases.

The environmental pollution, as a maintained form of stressful situation, decreases concentration, increases anxiety and depression alterations, makes people more irritable or aggressive, hyperactivity, produces sleep disorders and other types of mental health disorders.


Pollution does not affect all people equally

According to specialists in Endocrinology, pollution affects all living beings. Both plants and animals, including humans. The poor quality of the air breathed can cause up to 15,000 premature deaths in Spain each year. Age also matters, because children, teenagers and those over 60 or 70 are more sensitive.

In the case of respiratory diseases, asthma it is much more frequent in children who live in contaminated environments and in older people the incidence of COPD, heart disease and arteriosclerosis. Children with a developing immune system are more susceptible to respiratory allergies, as are elderly people with other associated diseases and weaker defense systems.

The negative effect of pollution on pregnant women

Pollution affects pregnancy. Pregnant women exposed to high levels of environmental pollution are more likely to have children with low birth weight. Several international studies conclude that the number of children with less than 2.5 kg. at birth, it is highest in the most contaminated places, which includes serious consequences for their health, with an increase in diseases and perinatal mortality. Other reports have a higher incidence of hypertension gestations, raising the risk of cesareans and premature birth in women who live in areas of high air pollution.

Pollution is one of the great plagues of the 21st century. Introducing large amounts of foreign elements to a particular medium produces serious problems in the balance of natural systems. To reduce pollution, everyone's collaboration is necessary if we want to improve the quality of life and the conservation of our planet.

Marisol Nuevo Espín
Advice. Dr.Alberto García Valdés, Head of Endocrinology and Nutrition San Francisco de Asis Hospital and member of Top Doctors.

Video: Why is air pollution a problem?


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