Week 2: High mortality in people with mental disorder linked to air pollution

This article published in The Guardian was a very interesting topic.  I have never thought to link mental disorder and air pollution together, and according to the study in the article, the data shown is very frightening and concerning. The study done in Hong Kong have found a strong link between deaths of people suffering from mental disorder such as schizophrenia, depression, dementia, and bipolar disease on days that have bad air quality. The analysis shows a rise in mortality risk of 16% on the first day of haze, 27% on the second day, and go up to 79% on days that have haze with high ozone pollution compared to a normal day. The article also goes on to mention some studies showed that there were evidence of small particle pollutant found in the brain which may point to the possibility how air pollutant can trigger acute depression response that leads to suicide. While reading this article I started to think about the severity of the findings and how it can affect millions of people worldwide especially with climate change and the amount of greenhouse gas we are releasing into our atmosphere. Since working in pharmacy I see an increasing number of patients suffering from mental disorders, it's has become a very common illness. If there is a high risk of mortality among those with mental disorder, then there should be more studies to look into exactly how dangerous air pollution can have on humans and is there a link to mental disorder in offsprings from parents that live in areas with high air pollution.





Carrington, D. (2018, January 26). Air pollution linked to 'extremely high mortality' in people with mental disorders. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/26/air-pollution-linked-to-extremely-high-mortality-in-people-with-mental-disorders

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 3, 2018 at 1:36 PM

    Wow, this is very scary. I am amazed at how high the percentages are for mortality risk. I have also heard that there have been an increase of patients suffering from mental disorders so it makes sense that there has been a connection between air pollution (since air pollution has been increasing dramatically during the years) and mental disorders. This article and all of the topics we have been learning about in this class just really makes us think about the toxic world we live in.

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  2. UnknownFebruary 4, 2018 at 8:39 PM

    This article is such a relevant article with this weeks topic! It is amazing how the air and products around us can make such a strong impact - particularly in the long run. It is terrifying to see that so many people are suffering from deaths but no one may know what the cause is because it is surround us all. It really makes me think about air pollution from a different perspective.

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