"Deep Breaths- Doctors’ Roles In Reducing Pollution Effects" - Kevin Kunzmann
In an October 2017 study, researchers reported that deadly non-communicable diseases caused by ambient air pollution had increased by another 20 percent in the past 25 years. More people are now dying annually from pollution than from AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. Lead author, Philip Landrigan, MD, MSc, professor of pediatrics, environmental medicine and public health, and dean for global health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, put this trend into forward-looking terms. Pollution-related deaths will increase by another 50 percent in the next two or three decades unless aggressive intervention is taken, he said. Residents of low-income and middle-income countries, where urbanization and industrialization are gaining momentum, will continue to bear the brunt of the pollution burden. “They have weak environmental agencies,” Dr. Landrigan said. “They're galloping ahead with industrialization without paying attention to the consequences.” The most compelling case of its severe effects, though, is in pediatric disease. Asthma rates in children have tripled in the past 40 years, according to Dr. Landrigan. That’s a rate that matches rising prevalence of obesity. Pediatric cancer, while easier to treat than it used to be, has also raised by 40 percent.
- Philip Landrigan, MD, MSc, Professor, Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Pediatrics, Dean for Global Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai