Health Update: Health Update: Heavy haze, air pollution poses respiratory risk – What Experts Say– What Experts Say.
Israel woke up on Saturday morning to one of the most severe haze events in recent years.
The sky was colored a cloudy orange-gray hue, visibility was significantly impaired, and monitoring stations across the country indicated very high to abnormal levels of air pollution.
The cause of the haze is strong southwesterly winds carrying large amounts of dust from North Africa.
According to reports, some improvement is expected in the north of the country and the Golan Heights later today, but very high pollution levels will prevail in other areas.
Health Ministry, Environmental Protection Ministry issue warnings
The Health Ministry and the Environmental Protection Ministry both issued warnings to the public regarding the dust.
Sensitive populations, including heart patients, lung patients, asthmatics, the elderly, children, and pregnant women, are advised to avoid staying outdoors and to stop all strenuous physical activity outside the home.
The healthy population is also advised to reduce strenuous activity in the open air as much as possible.
The ministries emphasized that the massive transport of dust raises the concentration of respiratory particles to levels that may be dangerous, especially for people with underlying diseases.
The impact of the haze is not limited to discomfort or burning in the eyes. It is a real biological burden on the body’s systems.
The tiny dust particles can penetrate through the respiratory tract into the trachea and bronchi, and sometimes into the lung nodules. The body recognizes the particles as a foreign agent and triggers an inflammatory response.
IgE antibodies activate during the response and trigger a chain of biological processes that includes blood vessel dilation, mucosal edema, and increased sputum secretion. The result is throat irritation, a bothersome cough, a burning sensation in the eyes, and sometimes narrowing of the airways.
In patients with asthma and chronic lung diseases, the effect may be more dramatic.
The narrowing of the airways causes wheezing, shortness of breath, and sometimes attacks that require treatment with inhalers or inhalations. In some cases, the particles in the air form a substrate for viruses and bacteria to adhere to, which may increase the risk of infections in the respiratory tract.
The cardiovascular system can also be damaged by the dust molecules. Polluted air contains less available oxygen, which requires the heart to work at an increased load to supply oxygen to the body’s tissues.
In heart patients with narrowing of the coronary blood vessels, the increased demand may lead to ischemia of the heart muscle and a possible heart attack. The load may also increase blood pressure and increase the risk of stroke.
Reducing exposure to air pollution, dust particles
To reduce exposure to the dust particles, it is recommended to close windows in the home, office, and car. Air conditioners should be set to internal circulation and not to draw air from outside.
Heart and lung patients are advised to stay in closed spaces as much as possible. Asthma patients should make sure that inhalers are easily accessible, and those who have suffered from severe asthma attacks in the past should consult a doctor about preventive treatment.
Outdoor physical activity is not recommended because physical exertion increases breathing rate and can draw a larger volume of polluted air into the lungs, thereby increasing exposure to harmful particles.
Children playing outside, running, or riding bicycles are at increased risk because their breathing rate is higher relative to their body weight.
Some dust inhalation symptoms may require immediate medical care. Severe shortness of breath that does not improve with rest, chest pain, a feeling of choking, or a sudden worsening of respiratory status requires urgent examination.
Heart patients who feel pain radiating to the shoulders, neck, jaw, or back should seek urgent medical care, especially if the pain is accompanied by nausea, cold sweats, or extreme weakness. Symptoms such as sudden confusion, difficulty speaking, or weakness on one side of the body could indicate the occurrence of a stroke and require immediate treatment.
Patients with asthma or chronic lung disease who struggle with severe wheezing that does not respond to normal treatment, or who use accessory muscles in the chest to breathe, should also seek treatment.