Pollution increases risk of appendicitis

• April 20, 2024

Another possible health problem must be added to the negative effects of air pollution: a new study suggests that the risk that the appendix Bust increases on days with a lot of smog.

Data from twelve Canadian cities found, as part of the effects of pollution, that "short-term exposure to environmental ozone [in the air] was associated with a greater number of hospital visits for appendicitis," according to a team led for him Dr. Gil Kaplan, University of Calgary .

The risk of a perforated appendix (trapped) increased by up to 22 percent for each increase of 16 parts per billion of ozone in the air in the period from three to seven days before the incident of appendicitis , researchers reported in the online edition of the magazine July 11 Environmental Health Perspectives.

The study "highlights an association that had not been recognized before between air pollutants, such as ozone, that are emitted during the use of fossil fuels, and an increase in the risk of appendicitis perforated ", commented the Dr. Robert Glatter, emergency room physician at Lenox Hill Hospital, in the city of New York. Glatter did not participate in the study.

In the study, the researchers noted that the appendicitis (an inflammation in the tiny vestigial organ known as an appendix) affects about one in 15 people. A trapped appendix It can be lethal if left untreated, and is a common cause of emergency surgery; risk that increases as part of the effects of pollution.

"Perforation occurs in between 16 and 40 percent of cases of appendicitis acute, and is associated with a higher rate of complications, which include wound infections, intra-abdominal abscesses, in addition to small bowel obstructions, "Glatter said.

Kaplan's team said the exact triggers of the appendicitis They are still ignored, but that this could be one of the effects of air pollution.

"A reduction in the incidence of appendicitis in the developed countries towards the end of the 20th century, it coincided with the enactment of laws that led to reductions in the concentrations of various atmospheric pollutants in the open air, "he said.

With animals they have also suggested that air pollution could cause changes in the intestines that could increase the risk of appendicitis .

In the study, researchers tracked the rates of emergency care by the appendicitis of almost 36,000 patients treated in twelve Canadian cities between 2004 and 2008.

Short-term increases in ozone, a component of smog, coincided with increases in emergency care by perforated appendages, but not by appendicitis without perforations, the authors pointed out.

About one third (31 percent) of cases of appendicitis in the study they had to do with a perforated appendix.

The risk of perforated appendix increased along with the number of consecutive days with smog, the researchers added. Fluctuations in temperature and humidity did not seem to have an impact on the cases of appendicitis , as part of the effects of pollution.

Video Medicine: Study finds potential link between air pollution and appendicitis rates (April 2024).