Health Impact Assessment of Air Pollution in Some Regions in Albania

Air is the ocean we breathe. Air supplies us with oxygen which is essential for our bodies to live. 99.9% air is nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor and inert gases. Human activities can release substances into the air, some of which can cause problems for humans, plants and animals. There are several main types of pollution and well-known effects of pollution which are commonly discussed. These include smog, acid rain, the greenhouse effect, and ＂holes＂ in the ozone layer. Each of these problems has serious implications for our health and well-being as well as for the whole environment. The age and health condition are more important also at the response opposite the pollution of air. During the last decade in our country such as result of freely population movement, development and growth of their industrial activities, growth of vehicle number, collapse of roadway infrastructure etc., an increase of air quality pollution is evident. In this study, we exhibited the causers, such as increasing of number of the old cars, which is an important factor of the air pollution and, at the same time, we exhibited the pollution indicators of the air quality, such as PM I 0, total dust, dust levels outdoors and indoors, which are in the high levels. These factors indicated on human health. We have observed the health indicators, especially lung diseases such as bronchial asthma with higher percentage, chronic bronchitis and lung cancer. There was consistency in the finding that relates the acute increases in urban air pollution and the short-term health effects or patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.

Clinical Observation in 31 Cases of Chronic Bronchitis at Remission Stage Treated with Bufei Keli

To observe the therapeutic effects of a Chinese drug Bufei Keli (补肺颗粒 granules for invigorating the lung) in the treatment of chronic bronchitis at remission stage, 62 cases were randomly divided into a treatment group (treated with Bufei Keli) and a control group (treated with Yupingfeng Keli 玉屏风颗粒). The results turned out to be that the short-term clinically controlled and markedly effective rate was 77.42% and the long-term relapse-resisting markedly effective rate was 74.2% in the treatment group, which were obviously higher than 45.16% and 38.71% respectively in the control group (P<0.05). And the increase in contents of SOD and CD_3 and the decrease in LPO content in the treatment group were also bigger than that in the control group (P<0.01). It is therefore concluded that Bufei Keli can improve qi deficiency syndrome and raise the immunity of patients with chronic bronchitis, hence its effect of resisting relapse of chronic bronchitis.

TCM aerosol inhalation treatment in acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis： a meta-analysis

Objectives： To determine whether traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） aerosol inhalation treatment is effective inthe treatment of acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis. Methods： Search double-blind randomised clinical trials（RCT） about the use of TCM aerosol inhalation in patient with acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis via database including Chinese biomedicine literature database, Wanfang Data, CNKI, Pubmed, EMBASE and CochraneLibrary from the beginning to October 2016. Quality evaluation, data extraction and data analysis of these RCT wascarried out with reference to the Cochrane systematic review. Results： 16 studies with 738 patients in TCM aerosolinhalation group and 675 in control group were included. The results of meta-analysis showed, （1） TCM aerosolinhalation group could improve the total cure rate. （2） TCM aerosol inhalation could increase the expression of IL-2while decrease the expression of IL-8 and MDA in sputum and blood. （3） TCM aerosol inhalation could improvethe symptoms of cough, cough with sputum, cough with dyspnea and lung wet rales. It also improve the symptomsof cough, expectorate and lung wet rales. （4） Shorten the time of cough and lung rale. （5） The adverse reactionswere light only with 1 occurrence of nausea and vomiting. Conclusions： The use of TCM aerosol inhalation in thetreatment of acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis was effective. However, the inclusion researches quality werenot very high, which only provided limited evidence for clinical application. Higher-quality randomized controlledtrials were needed for further study.

Interleukin-6 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from patients with COPD

Objective To obtain new insights into the behavior of Interleukin-6(IL-6)in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF)and released from alveolar macrophages(AM)in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD),and reveal the relationship between IL-6 and the development of emphysema in COPD.Methods IL-6 in BALF and released by AM in BALF were examined in 7 non-smoking subjects and 21 patients with COPD.According to the 95% confidence limits of IL-6 in BALF from non-smoking subjects,the patients were divided into two groups:those who were within the limits were assigned to the first group,and those who were above the limits were assigned to the second group.Results The concentration of IL-6 released by AM was much higher in the second group than in the first one.Between the two groups,significant differences were found in pulmonary function.Conclusion Our results suggest that the concentration of IL-6 released by AM may be related with pulmonary function,and IL-6 may play a role in the development of emphysema in patients with COPD.

Efficacy comparison of different forms of dog-days acupoint application for prevention and treatment of chronic bronchitis

Objective: To analyze the clinical effect of traditionaldog-days acupoint application and Magic Acupuncture Patch (Manji) in the prevention and treatment of chronic bronchitis (CB) in remission stage in the past five years, and explore the principle of action and effective stimulation, to provide the evidence for treating CB by acupoint application. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 405 patients with CB who met the inclusion criteria. All patients were treated with dog-days acupoint application or Magic Acupuncture Patch between 2013 and 2017. The clinical data of 405 patients were statistically analyzed to compare the prevention and treatment effects of dog-days acupoint application and Magic Acupuncture Patch, and different degrees of stimulation of dog-days acupoint application. Results: Among the dog-days acupoint application groups, the total effective rate was 63.6% in the light stimulation group, 93.1% in the moderate stimulation group, and 94.8% in the strong stimulation group. The differences in the total effective rate between the light stimulation group and the moderate stimulation group, as well as the strong stimulation group, were statistically significant (both P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the total effective rate between the moderate stimulation group and the strong stimulation group (P>0.05). The total effective rate was 83.9% in the dog-days acupoint application group, versus 45.4% in the Magic Acupuncture Patch group, and there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: The efficacy of dog-days acupoint application in the prevention and treatment of CB is better than that of Magic Acupuncture Patch;the degree of stimulation is the basis for the effect of dog-days acupoint application on prevention and treatment of CB, and the moderate and strong stimulations are more appropriate.