Beatrice Mahler, head of the “Marius Nasta” Institute, links the large number of patients with respiratory diseases who go to the hospital to the increase in the level of air pollutants in Bucharest. Beatrice Mahler said there is a direct link between the level of pollution and the number of hospitalizations in the health department she heads.

Beatrice Mahler Photo: Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea
  • “This is highlighted, among other things, in a study we carried out for Bucharest over the last five years, which highlights a direct correlation between the number of hospitalizations of patients with respiratory diseases and the level of PM 2.5 (particles in suspension – no), less than PM 10, but both are interconnected,” Beatriz Mahler said on Monday evening at TVR Info, News.ro reports.

The doctor noted that there is no laboratory equipment or diagnostic method to show whether a person presenting to the hospital has a certain condition due to pollution, but the data on the presentation can be correlated with certain seasons of the year.

  • “There is a certain rhythm in the number of hospitalizations, which correlates with the level of pollutants in the atmosphere, because with the beginning of the autumn months, starting from October, the level of pollutants recorded by the stations that measure it, for example in the city of Bucharest, but in any parts of the world are experiencing an increase in the number of pollutants, while the number of patients entering the hospital due to exacerbation of respiratory diseases is also increasing. This curve rises until about February, after which it begins to fall until May. This is also the period when we have the most pressure on the pulmonology department at the hospital or at the Marius Nasta Institute, the summer months with fewer patients, although in the summer we know that we have pollen, but the level of allergens does not determine the same level of decompensation that requires hospitalization,” Mahler added.

Obstructive disease patients who need drugs to expand the airways suffer the most and go to emergency rooms most often when pollutant levels rise and when temperatures change significantly, Beatrice Mahler said.

She clarified that the level of pollution affects not only patients with respiratory diseases, but also cardiovascular diseases, there are studies that show that the risk of stroke increases in patients who live in a polluted environment.