select CategoryID, istopic from ( SELECT CategoryID, EXISTS (SELECT * from topics_equivalence te WHERE te.categoryid=acl.categoryid) as istopic FROM eZArticle_ArticleCategoryLink acl WHERE acl.ArticleID=84220 ) as subquery

High Levels Of Pollution Increase Asthma Incidence in Children

© Geographical Rising pollution levels have caused an increase in the number of patients suffering from various lung illnesses and conditions. This was confirmed by Silvana Bala, MD, specialist in pulmonary diseases, who says that “this is particularly noticeable with patients who come from the most polluted areas of Albania.” Bala adds that it is children which are most affected and endangered from the rising pollution. An ever larger number of children contract asthma, which is caused, in the majority of cases, by the environmental pollution. Dr. Bala also commented on the geographic distribution of people with pulmonary diseases. “Regarding the geographic distribution, I would have to point out the region of Elbasan as the area with highest rate of new cases of lung conditions. It is followed by certain areas in the district of Tirana and the Shar Mountain area, where all sorts of waste is disposed and incinerated. There is also the “December 21” District, which is notorious for its traffic density and pollution.” The patients from the Shar Mountain area are in greatest danger, in my opinion”, adds Dr. Bala. “In addition to the enormous amounts of dust that they breathe in during the day, they are exposed to the toxic gasses released with incineration of waste dumps. During incineration, the waste releases enormous amounts of bacterially charged material and smoke. The patients coming from that region have the tendency to become chronic patients.

 Printable version