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eBook details

• Title: Hazy Beijing
• Author : Shen Zi Quan
• Release Date : January 14, 2017
• Genre: Medical,Books,Professional & Technical,
• Pages : * pages
• Size : 6017 KB

Description

Hazy Beijing: Questionnaire unveils unknown health damage caused by PM2.5


Air pollution in China has become particularly worse since 2013. The University of California reported in 2015 that around 4,000 people die per day from air pollution induced heart disease, lung disease and stroke. However, from number of deaths alone, it is difficult to measure how air pollution damages people’s health. Some diseases’ onset is unclear and may take several decades to manifest, such as lung cancer. Studies gathering data now is therefore needed, with necessary information about symptoms by patient age and disease. In particular, data on vulnerable groups with a lower resistant to air pollution is badly needed, such as infants, children and the elderly. Such information has not been published before.

This made me determined to investigate further by questionnaire. The survey has the following characteristics: region, basis, sample, and period, as detailed below:

i. Region: Beijing, the capital, was chosen due to its large size. Tongliao, a rural industrial city of Inner Mongolia, was chosen as a provincial city where air pollution is a serious problem. Tongliao is also severely affected by ‘yellow sand’.
ii. Basis: ATS-DLD-78 (American Thoracic Society-Division of Lung Diseases-1978) is a widely used standard questionnaire, used to research the number of patients suffering from respiratory symptoms.

iii. Sample: 
• Beijing: 430 people 
• Tongliao:213 people
iv. Period: August to October 2014.


All ages were surveyed, but my biggest concern was for infants and children, who are the future of China. Respondent were questioned on medical care costs actually paid directly to the hospital. This allowed us to estimate total medical expenses for both local and national governments. Results were also used to investigate how medical expenses will burden China from an economic point of view.


The seven typical respiratory diseases due to air pollution were selected: Beijing cold, persistent sputum, acute bronchitis, chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, childhood asthma and lung cancer-like symptoms. The prevalence of each disease by age group was determined. Note that the description of “lung cancer-like symptoms” in this study merely indicates a higher possibility of lung cancer, because to assert it, additional tissue examination is needed.

 

Analysis results of the questionnaire:

1. Health damage

  People who suffer Beijing cold are not limited geographically to Beijing, as it can occur in many regional cities. Roughly one in two people suffer from this disease. 

Among respiratory diseases, chronic bronchitis changes the internal organization of the bronchi which will never recover to original healthy tissue, so the damage is considered to be very serious. Thankfully, patients are currently restricted to Beijing, but reality needs to be faced that prevalence has reached several percent. Chronic bronchitis prevalence depends on the type of air pollution. For example, there are very few chronic bronchitis patients in Tongliao now, so it is supposed that the disease is unlikely to have spread throughout China.

The biggest problem highlighted by this study is the high prevalence of lung cancer-like symptoms. For the under 20’s in Beijing, prevalence has reached as high as 0.6%. Without air pollution, this disease is very rare, e.g., a prevalence of one in ten million people (0.00001%). The prevalence of those in their 40’s is even higher at 1.2%. These results indicate a raised possibility of future lung cancer pathogenesis. Preparations need to be made now for such a scenario.

In Tongliao, the prevalence of lung cancer-like symptoms is slightly lower, being about one-third to one-half of Beijing, but still considered high. So even in rural cities, it is a serious problem.


2. Medical care burden

Medical treatment costs by age in Beijing and Tongliao were investigated via questionnaire. 

  The ratio of treatment cost to total city medical care expenditure and city GDP was calculated for Beijing and Tongliao. Results were found to be very large in both cities. Treatment costs for air polliution to total city medical care expenditure is 54.9% for Beijing, and 64.9% for Tongliao. As a proportion of city GDP, treatment costs for air polliution is 1.4% for Beijing, and 0.65% for Tongliao.

 In this case, the benefits of future economic growth might ironically have to be spent supporting medical expenses caused by air pollution created by that growth.

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