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The need for a focus on air pollution research in the elderly

¹ Dept of Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, University Hospital, Umeå, Sweden, ² Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology Research Division, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK, ³ Karolinska Institute, Dept of Public Health Sciences, Division of Occupational Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden, ⁴ Pulmonary Environmental Epidemiology Group, CNR, Institute of Clinical Physiology, Pisa, Italy

CORRESPONDENCE: T. Sandström, Dept of Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, University Hospital, S-901 85, Umeå, Sweden. Fax: 46 90141369. E-mail: thomas.sandstrom@lung.umu.se

Keywords: air pollution epidemiology, controlled exposure studies, elderly, pathophysiological mechanisms, susceptibility

Received: April 12, 2002
During recent years an increasing focus has been directed towards the adverse health effects associated with ambient air pollution. Elderly people appear to be particularly susceptible to the adverse effects involving the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, resulting in symptoms, exacerbations of disease and even mortality.

From an epidemiological point of view it is essential to obtain a more detailed description and identification of factors associated with these health effects. Novel study designs are needed with complementary exposure and biomedical characterisation. Long-term prospective studies are required. A better understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms is considered important and requires an interaction between epidemiological and mechanistic studies in elderly individuals with or without complementary diseases that put in them especially at risk.

Generally a synergy between complementary disciplines is warranted to move this important research area forward, also including in vitro models of cell responses in the elderly, animal models of diseases of the elderly, together with controlled air pollution exposure studies identifying health-related events and mechanisms.

The generation of an understanding of air pollution effects in the elderly, at an elevated level, is a prerequisite to substantially reducing the adverse health effects of this population group. At local, national and European Union levels, some steps have been taken to support the research in this area. A major focus on the adverse air pollution effects in the elderly requires a long-term commitment that still remains to be established.