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Stay Away From Haze To Prevent Heart Disease!
 

Merriam-webster.com defines haze as fine dust, smoke, or light vapor causing lack of transparency of the air. It often occurs when dust and smoke particles accumulate in relatively dry air.

Pollutants like sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, particulates, and elemental and organic carbons cause haze. Some of these pollutants have already been found naturally in the air while others are created by certain human activities. Industrial pollution can result in dense haze known as smog. The pollutants can be either emitted directly into the air, or formed by undergoing a chemical reaction when gases are emitted into the air.

Haze not only could impair visibility but also might be a health threat to respiratory system as well as heart. Every year, about 2 million premature deaths worldwide were caused by air pollution, according to the figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO).

A scientific statement appeared on the American Heart Association (AHA) warned that haze is bad for the heart with studies that linked it to heart attack and cardiovascular disease. Particulate matter less than 2.5 micrograms in diameter, also known as PM2.5, is responsible for the health treat. It is believed that these very small PM2.5 particles could just get into a person’s blood circulation and cause direct damage to that person.

Since 1991, haze has been a serious problem in Southeast Asia. The so-called haze season, occurs yearly from July to September, is caused by traditional burning season of forests in Indonesia.

Air pollution in Singapore is calculated using the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), which does not measure PM2.5 level but PM10, a larger particulate matter in haze. Though Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) monitors PM2.5 levels, the figure is not released to the public on a daily basis. Instead, NEA lists the annual average reading in its annual report.

In fact, the PM2.5 average here over the last two years were found to be higher than the 'safe' level recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Some experts feel that there is a need to have more regular updates on PM2.5 levels as these small particles have a strong association with most types of respiratory illness and even mortality.

While there have not been an upswing in heart events during the hazy periods in Singapore so far, doctors still advise individuals with existing conditions like lung and heart disease to stay indoors during periods of haze. If they feel unwell, they should seek medical help as soon as possible.

In the June 2010 issue of Epidemiology, a study that examined the relationship between air pollution and out-of hospital cardiac arrest in Melbourne, Australia confirmed that PM2.5 had the strongest association with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The researchers found that days with increased pollution were followed (about 2 days later) with days of increased out-of-hospital heart attack and the risk was higher for men than women. For every 4.26 micrograms per cubic meter increase in PM2.5 concentration, the risk of an out-of hospital cardiac arrest increase was 4 percent for men and 2.77 percent for women.

So far, there were only 4 studies that examined the relationship between air pollution and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest or deaths.

Study from Boston published in Circulation in 2001 examined the link between increased particulate air pollution and the triggering of myocardial infarction (MI) suggested that elevated concentrations of fine particles (measurement of PM2.5) might raise the risk of MI for several hours as well as for several days after exposure.

Another study from Rome (Italy) published in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine in 2005 indicated that the air pollution in Rome was on average 3 times higher than in Melbourne. The study measured PM10 instead of PM2.5. But an increase of 29.7 µg/m3 in concentrations PM10 does correspond to a 10.1% increase in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Melbourne study.

Furthermore, findings in both Rome and Melbourne studies showed that people aged between 65 and 74 were most likely to suffer when exposing to particulate air pollution. This may imply older people are in greater risk of extensive coronary heart disease with exposure to air pollution.

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