People with pre-diabetes or diabetes who live in ozone-polluted areas may have an increased risk for developing interstitial lung disease, an irreversible disease also known as pulmonary fibrosis with a high mortality rate, says a study.
Given that India has a high number of diabetics at 77 million while polluted air including ozone has caused more roughly 1.6 million annual deaths in the country, these findings should concern the authorities in the backdrop of Covid-19 crisis. More so, as Covid-19 is a respiratory ailment lungs are the most commonly affected organ.
"Our findings are especially important today as we're in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, where we have great concern regarding the convergence of health effects from air pollution and SARS-CoV-2 in susceptible populations like people with diabetes,” said James Wagner, lead author and associate professor for the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine's Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation. The study is published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Ozone - a gas often referred to as "smog" - is known to exacerbate certain lung diseases, such as asthma and rhinitis, which are primarily upper airway diseases.
However, this is for the first time, the researchers have suggested an association between high ozone concentrations and adverse health effects in the deep lung, which cause difficulty breathing due to lung restriction and stiffness.