China’s air pollution has caused a jump in chronic lung diseases usually associated with the elderly among people in their 30s, state media said on Thursday.
Sufferers of emphysema and chronic bronchitis were growing in number and getting younger, the Beijing News said, citing a health research report that said China had about 43 million chronic lung patients, of whom about 1 million die each year.
“Because of the worsening environmental pollution in cities, more people are getting the disease and the patients are younger,” He Quanying, a hospital director who organised the research, was quoted as saying.
[Full Text]
Read article from the Guardian: “Satellite data reveals Beijing as air pollution capital of world,” saying “As it gears up to host the 2008 Olympic Games Beijing has been awarded an unwelcome new accolade: the air pollution capital of the world.”