Oxygen news: Environment causing issues for asthmatics in the north-west
Asthmatics in north-west England may find it helpful to use portable oxygen masks, as it has been claimed the region's high rate of hospitalisations for people with the condition is partly due to the environment in the area.
New figures from the NHS Information Centre reveal the respiratory illness saw 68,530 admissions in the 12 months to July 2011 across the country, 12,110 of which were in the north-west.
This means there were 175 hospitalisations due to asthma for every 100,000 people in the region compared with 130 in the rest of the nation.
Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, Blackburn with Darwen's director of public health Dominic Harrison said: "The risk of having asthma [in east Lancashire] is increased dramatically by cold and damp, mould and dust mites."
He said old housing stock in the area, the wet climate, a large proportion of smokers in the community and air pollution are worsening asthma problems in the region.
Posted by Stewart Elliott
14/11/2011 15:46:06
Subscribe to the News RSS feed
Related articles