Bad air rising
Wed, October 08 2008
Smog is a worsening problem in Asia’s cities, with an increasing impact on the quality of life and the general health of the people who work and live there, say experts.
Dr. Johnny Koo Tak-ching has no doubt pollution is partially to blame for the growing number of coughs, sneezes and sore throats he treats at the private Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic in Central Hong Kong where the majority of patients are expatriates who move from city to city in their work.
“Those patients who have long-term rhinitis, sinusitis and nasal polyps get worse when they are working in a city with higher pollution. They can tell which city has the highest pollution by how bad their symptoms get,” he said.
“They feel much better in places like Cyprus and some of the northern Chinese cities like Harbin, but feel worse when they move to places like Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong.
“Singapore is better than Hong Kong, and Kuala Lumpur is better than Singapore.”
A report by the Hong Kong think-tank Civic Exchange claimed poor air quality was responsible for 10,000 premature deaths and 440,000 bed days in hospital a year in the Hong Kong, Macau and China’s Pearl River Delta area.
And it is not just the very young, old or those with existing respiratory problems such as asthma who are paying the price for pollution. Ear, nose and throat experts claim they are seeing an increasing number of seemingly healthy people seeking help for problems of the upper respiratory system caused by pollutants in the air.
Ear, nose and throat expert Dr. John Woo Kong-sang said in most cases the allergy to pollution manifests itself as rhinitis or rhino-sinusitis – inflammation of the mucous membrane lining of the nose or sinuses – causing symptoms such as runny noses, sneezing and coughing.
A sore throat, phlegm, loss of smell and watery or itchy eyes are also common reactions to pollution.
Woo, a Honorary Clinical Associate Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong specializing in ear, nose and throat problems, estimates that patients with allergic rhinitis or rhino-sinusitis now account for around 30 to 40 per cent of cases at the Ear Nose and Throat clinic compared to 10 to 15 per cent a decade ago.
Woo said the nose, being the air filter to the lungs, was the first to suffer from pollution.
“When working properly, the nose filters out about 90 per cent of pollutants. But when you have a lot of pollutants in the air, it has to work harder,” he said.
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