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The Science of the Total Environment Jan 2024Low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are disproportionately affected by air pollution and its health burden, representing a global inequity. The COVID-19 pandemic... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
Low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are disproportionately affected by air pollution and its health burden, representing a global inequity. The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to investigate the impact of unprecedented lockdown measures on air pollutant concentrations globally. We aim to quantify air pollutant concentration changes across LMIC settings as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.
METHODS
Searches for this systematic review and meta-analysis were carried out across five databases on 30th March 2022; MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus and Transport Research Information Documentation. Modelling and observational studies were included, as long as the estimates reflected city or town level data and were taken exclusively in pre-lockdown and lockdown periods. Mean percentage changes per pollutant were calculated and meta-analyses were carried out to calculate mean difference in measured ground-level observed concentrations for each pollutant (PROSPERO CRD42022326924).
FINDINGS
Of the 2982 manuscripts from initial searches, 256 manuscripts were included providing 3818 percentage changes of all pollutants. No studies included any countries from Sub-Saharan Africa and 34 % and 39.4 % of studies were from China and India, respectively. There was a mean percentage change of -37.4 %, -21.7 %, -54.6 %, -39.1 %, -48.9 %, 16.9 %, -34.9 %, -30.6 % and - 14.7 % for black carbon (BC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO), oxides of nitrogen (NO), ozone (O), particulate matter 10 (PM) and 2.5 (PM) and sulphur dioxide (SO), respectively. Meta-analysis included 100 manuscripts, providing 908 mean concentration differences, which showed significant reduction in mean concentration in all study settings for BC (-0.46 μg/m, PI -0.85; -0.08), CO (-0.25 mg/m, PI -0.44; -0.03), NO (-19.41 μg/m, PI -31.14; -7.68) and NO (-22.32 μg/m, PI -40.94; -3.70).
INTERPRETATION
The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis quantify and confirm the trends reported across the globe in air pollutant concentration, including increases in O. Despite the majority of global urban growth occurring in LMIC, there are distinct geographical gaps in air pollution data and, where it is available, differing approaches to analysis and reporting.
Topics: Humans; Developing Countries; Nitrogen Dioxide; Pandemics; COVID-19; Communicable Disease Control; Air Pollution; Air Pollutants; Particulate Matter; Ozone; Nitric Oxide
PubMed: 37884141
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168110 -
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Mar 2024Ozone is a potent antioxidant agent which presents an important antimicrobial action and many other biological effects. Although ozone therapy has been widely described... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE
Ozone is a potent antioxidant agent which presents an important antimicrobial action and many other biological effects. Although ozone therapy has been widely described and summarized in several other Dentistry areas recently, the studies concerning Dental Implantology have not been systematically compiled and evaluated. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of ozone therapy in dental implant procedures.
METHODS
MEDLINE (via PUBMED), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and OpenGrey databases were searched (up to, and including, January 23, 2023) for studies in the English language. In addition, the reference lists of the articles were manually examined. Only interventional studies (controlled clinical trials, randomized or not) were considered eligible for inclusion. The risk of bias in each included study was assessed using the Cochrane tool for assessing risk of bias in randomized trials - version 2.
RESULTS
71 potentially eligible records were retrieved but only 5 articles were evaluated and considered eligible for inclusion. Among the studies, 2 addressed clinical situations related to implant insertion, and 3 involved pathological conditions affecting implants in function. Furthermore, only one randomized clinical trial was categorized as low risk of bias.
CONCLUSION
The adjuvant use of ozone therapy may positively affect some outcomes in Implant Dentistry, both in treating pathological conditions and conducting rehabilitation (implant installation, secondary implant stability). However, as most studies have a high risk of bias and high heterogeneity, a definitive conclusion cannot be drawn.
Topics: Humans; Dental Implants; Dental Implantation, Endosseous; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
PubMed: 36907921
DOI: 10.1007/s10006-023-01149-3 -
Environmental Research Oct 2023Air pollution, in addition to presenting health risks, can impact the practice of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) in older adults. This study analyzed... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Air pollution, in addition to presenting health risks, can impact the practice of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) in older adults. This study analyzed the impact of air pollution on the health of older adults during PA and SB, through a systematic review.
METHODS
A keyword and reference search was performed in PubMed, SCOPUS, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science. Predetermined selection criteria included study designs: interventions or experiments, retrospective or prospective cohort studies, cross-sectional studies and case-control studies; population: older adults aged 60 years or older; exposures: specific air pollutants (particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), black carbon (CN), ultrafine particles (PU), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and biomass fuels) indoors and outdoors; and outcomes: physical activity and/or sedentary behavior.
RESULTS
The beneficial effects of PA were attenuated or harmed in 11 studies, showing negative impacts on the health of the older adults, mainly by PM pollutants. On the other hand, in 10 studies the effects of PA were greater than the negative effects of air pollutants, with a greater frequency in relation to PM. In general, even the articles presenting controversial results suggest that practicing PA in polluted environments is more favorable to the health of older adults than remaining in SB.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
On the one hand, air pollution negatively impacted the health of the older adults during PA practices, while on the other hand, PA can mitigate the negative effects of pollutants on the health of older adults during the practices. Evidence shows that practicing PA in environments with low concentrations of pollutants can provide gains and reduce health risks. Remaining in SB in environments with high levels of air pollution worsens the health of older adults.
Topics: Humans; Aged; Retrospective Studies; Prospective Studies; Sedentary Behavior; Cross-Sectional Studies; Air Pollution; Air Pollutants; Particulate Matter; Ozone; Sulfur Dioxide; Nitrogen Dioxide; Exercise; Environmental Exposure
PubMed: 37392827
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.116519 -
The effect of the urban exposome on COVID-19 health outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Environmental Research Jan 2024The global severity of SARS-CoV-2 illness has been associated with various urban characteristics, including exposure to ambient air pollutants. This systematic review... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
The global severity of SARS-CoV-2 illness has been associated with various urban characteristics, including exposure to ambient air pollutants. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to synthesize findings from ecological and non-ecological studies to investigate the impact of multiple urban-related features on a variety of COVID-19 health outcomes.
METHODS
On December 5, 2022, PubMed was searched to identify all types of observational studies that examined one or more urban exposome characteristics in relation to various COVID-19 health outcomes such as infection severity, the need for hospitalization, ICU admission, COVID pneumonia, and mortality.
RESULTS
A total of 38 non-ecological and 241 ecological studies were included in this review. Non-ecological studies highlighted the significant effects of population density, urbanization, and exposure to ambient air pollutants, particularly PM. The meta-analyses revealed that a 1 μg/m increase in PM was associated with a higher likelihood of COVID-19 hospitalization (pooled OR 1.08 (95% CI:1.02-1.14)) and death (pooled OR 1.06 (95% CI:1.03-1.09)). Ecological studies, in addition to confirming the findings of non-ecological studies, also indicated that higher exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO), ozone (O), sulphur dioxide (SO), and carbon monoxide (CO), as well as lower ambient temperature, humidity, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and less green and blue space exposure, were associated with increased COVID-19 morbidity and mortality.
CONCLUSION
This systematic review has identified several key vulnerability features related to urban areas in the context of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The findings underscore the importance of improving policies related to urban exposures and implementing measures to protect individuals from these harmful environmental stressors.
Topics: Humans; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Exposome; Pandemics; Air Pollutants; Environmental Pollutants; Particulate Matter
PubMed: 37852458
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117351 -
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Feb 2024Some studies have shown the effect of air pollution on migraine. However, it needs to be confirmed in larger-scale studies, as scientific evidence is scarce regarding... (Review)
Review
Some studies have shown the effect of air pollution on migraine. However, it needs to be confirmed in larger-scale studies, as scientific evidence is scarce regarding the association between air pollution and migraine. Therefore, this systematic review aims to determine whether there are associations between outdoor air pollution and migraine. A literature search was performed in Scopus, Medline (via PubMed), EMBASE, and Web of Science. A manual search for resources and related references was also conducted to complete the search. All observational studies investigating the association between ambient air pollution and migraine, with inclusion criteria, were entered into the review. Fourteen out of 1417 identified articles met the inclusion criteria and entered the study. Among the gaseous air pollutants, there was a correlation between exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO) (78.3% of detrimental relationships) and carbon monoxide (CO) (68.0% of detrimental relationships) and migraine, but no apparent correlation has been found for sulfur dioxide (SO) (21.2% of detrimental relationships) and ozone (O) (55.2% of detrimental relationships). In the case of particulate air pollutants, particulate matter with a diameter of 10 μm or less (PM) (76.0% of detrimental relationships) and particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM) (61.3% of detrimental relationships) had relationships with migraine. In conclusion, exposure to NO, CO, PM, and PM is associated with migraine headaches, while no conclusive evidence was found to confirm the correlation between O and SO with migraine. Further studies with precise methodology are recommended in different cities around the world for all pollutants with an emphasis on O and SO.
Topics: Humans; Nitrogen Dioxide; Environmental Monitoring; Air Pollution; Air Pollutants; Ozone; Particulate Matter; Sulfur Dioxide; Migraine Disorders; Environmental Exposure
PubMed: 38363415
DOI: 10.1007/s10661-024-12376-w -
Journal of the European Academy of... Oct 2023Increasing air pollution is common around the world, but the impacts of outdoor air pollution exposure on atopic dermatitis (AD) are unclear. We synthesized the current... (Review)
Review
Increasing air pollution is common around the world, but the impacts of outdoor air pollution exposure on atopic dermatitis (AD) are unclear. We synthesized the current global epidemiologic evidence for air pollution exposure and associated medical visits for AD among adults and children. This review followed PRISMA guidelines, and searches were conducted on PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science and EMBASE databases. The searches yielded 390 studies, and after screening, 18 studies around the world assessing at least 5,197,643 medical visits for AD in total were included for the final analysis. We found that exposure to particulate matter ≤2.5 μm in diameter (PM ) [(10/11) of studies], particulate matter ≤10 μm in diameter (PM ) (11/13), nitrogen dioxide (NO ) (12/14) and sulfur dioxide (SO ) (10/13) was positively associated with AD visits. Results were equivocal for ozone [(4/8) of studies reported positive association] and limited for carbon monoxide [(1/4) of studies reported positive association]. When stratifying results by patient age, patient sex and season, we found that the associations with particulate matter, NO and O may be affected by temperature. Exposure to selected air pollutants is associated with AD visits, and increasingly poor worldwide air quality may increase global healthcare use for AD.
Topics: Child; Adult; Humans; Nitrogen Dioxide; Dermatitis, Atopic; Environmental Exposure; Air Pollution; Air Pollutants; Particulate Matter; Delivery of Health Care
PubMed: 37184289
DOI: 10.1111/jdv.19193 -
The Science of the Total Environment Feb 2024Indoor air quality is important for the health of building occupants, and public interest in controlling indoor airborne pathogens increased dramatically with the... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
Indoor air quality is important for the health of building occupants, and public interest in controlling indoor airborne pathogens increased dramatically with the COVID-19 pandemic. Pollutant concentrations can be controlled locally using portable air cleaners (sometimes called air purifiers), which allow occupants to apply air cleaning technology to meet their needs in the location and times that they find appropriate. This paper provides a systematic review of scientific literature that describes field studies of the effectiveness of portable air cleaners. Over 500 papers were considered, and 148 were reviewed in detail, to extract 35 specific research results (e.g., particulate removal performance) or characteristics (e.g., type of building). These were aggregated to provide an overview of results and approaches to this type of research, and to provide meta-analyses of the results. The review includes: descriptions of the geographical location of the research; rate of publications over time; types of buildings and occupants in the field study; types of air cleaner technology being tested; pollutants being measured; resulting pollutant removal effectiveness; patterns of usage and potential barriers to usage by occupants; and the potential for by-product emissions in some air cleaner technologies. An example result is that 83 of the 148 papers measured reductions in fine particulates (PM) and found a mean reduction of 49 % with standard deviation of 20 %. The aggregated results were approximately normally distributed, ranging from finding no significant reduction up to a maximum above 90 % reduction. Sixteen of the 148 papers considered gaseous pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone; 36 papers considered biological pollutants, such as bacteria, viruses, pollen, fungi, etc. An important challenge, common to several studies, is that occupants run the air cleaners for shorter periods and on low airflow rate settings, because of concerns about noise, drafts, and electricity cost, which significantly reduces air cleaning effectiveness.
Topics: Air Filters; Air Pollutants; Air Pollution, Indoor; Environmental Pollutants; Pandemics; Particulate Matter
PubMed: 38008326
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168786 -
The Science of the Total Environment Mar 2024Seeking multi-dimensional inclusion is one of the most global concerns of the crop production sector worldwide. Socio-eco-effectiveness or socio-eco-efficiency... (Review)
Review
Seeking multi-dimensional inclusion is one of the most global concerns of the crop production sector worldwide. Socio-eco-effectiveness or socio-eco-efficiency optimization plays a crucial role in future strategy establishment. Life cycle is a widely used approach examining economic, environmental, and social impacts. Recently, life cycle thinking approaches have been increasingly utilized to bring to light useful perceptions of the crop production processes. This study aims to apply a systematic review and prescriptive analytics to critically investigate the life cycle thinking approaches application according to sustainability pyramid aspects, life cycle thinking unicity, goal and scope variability, functional units' causality, system boundary' diversity, involved aspect' concentration, indicators, impacts categories and influencing variables distribution, as well as to define a first datasheet model and directive axis to apply per aspect and family for socio-eco-effectiveness or socio-eco-efficiency evaluation. Over 295 peer-reviewed studies from 2019 to the middle of 2023, 52 reviews and articles gathered from Web of Science and Scopus meet the criteria to be analyzed. Our inspection revealed that related reviews are few, approximately 2 %. Moving from the traditional life cycle perspective to the sustainability pyramid approach, the indicators applied by researchers were classified per aspect and family belonging. A deductive analysis was carried out to narrow the impact categories, and the influencing factors to the population's main interests: four economic (input status, resources consumption, waste, and Costs of Life Cycle), eight environmental (Climate Change, Global Warming, Ozone, Acidification, Eutrophication, Photochemical Oxidation, Abiotic Depletion, and Toxicity), and three social families (Human Toxicity, employment, and Ionizing Radiation). The results combination highlights the construction need for a directive datasheet model to address the optimizing problem under the identified families and aspects constraints, as well as to envisage the units and methods worldwide standardization's necessity for spatial-temporal studies comparison in the present, the past, and the future.
Topics: Humans; Environment; Costs and Cost Analysis; Ozone; Crop Production
PubMed: 38253108
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170267 -
International Archives of Occupational... May 2024Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is a widely observed metabolic disorder that is increasingly prevalent worldwide, leading to substantial societal consequences. Previous... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is a widely observed metabolic disorder that is increasingly prevalent worldwide, leading to substantial societal consequences. Previous studies have conducted two separate meta-analyses to investigate the relationship between MetS and air pollutants. However, these studies yielded conflicting results, necessitating a thorough systematic review and meta-analysis to reassess the link between different air pollutants and the risk of developing MetS.
METHODS
We conducted a comprehensive search of relevant literature in databases including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science up to October 9, 2023. The search was specifically restricted to publications in the English language. Following the screening of studies investigating the correlation between air pollution and MetS, we utilized random-effects models to calculate pooled effect sizes along with their respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs). We would like to highlight that this study has been registered with PROSPERO, and it can be identified by the registration number CRD42023484421.
RESULTS
The study included twenty-four eligible studies. The results revealed that an increase of 10 μg/m in annual concentrations of PM, PM, PM, NO, SO, and O was associated with a 29% increase in metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk for PM1 (OR = 1.29 [CI 1.07-1.54]), an 8% increase for PM2.5 (OR = 1.08 [CI 1.06-1.10]), a 17% increase for PM (OR = 1.17 [CI 1.08-1.27]), a 24% increase for NO (OR = 1.24 [CI 1.01-1.51]), a 19% increase for SO (OR = 1.19 [CI 1.04-1.36]), and a 10% increase for O (OR = 1.10 [CI 1.07-1.13]).
CONCLUSION
The findings of this study demonstrate a significant association between exposure to fine particulate matter (PM, PM, PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO), sulfur dioxide (SO), ozone (O), and the incidence of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Moreover, the results suggest that air pollution exposure could potentially contribute to the development of MetS in humans.
PubMed: 38733545
DOI: 10.1007/s00420-024-02072-0 -
ARP Rheumatology Feb 2024To perform a systematic literature review (SLR) aimed at evaluating the efficacy and safety of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for Raynaud's...
Systematic literature review to inform the Portuguese recommendations for the management of Raynaud's phenomenon and digital ulcers in systemic sclerosis and other connective tissue diseases.
OBJECTIVE
To perform a systematic literature review (SLR) aimed at evaluating the efficacy and safety of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) and digital ulcers (DU) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and other connective tissue diseases (CTD), in order to inform the Portuguese recommendations for managing RP and DU in these patients.
METHODS
A SLR was conducted until May 2022 to identify studies assessing the efficacy and safety of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for RP and DU in SSc and other CTD. Eligible study designs included randomized controlled trials (RCTs), controlled clinical trials, and their extensions for assessing efficacy and safety of interventions. Observational studies with a comparator were included for evaluating the efficacy and safety of non-pharmacological interventions and safety of pharmacological interventions. The risk of bias of each study was assessed using standard tools.
RESULTS
Out of 71 publications meeting the inclusion criteria, 59 evaluated pharmacological and 12 non-pharmacological interventions. We found moderate quality evidence supporting the efficacy of calcium channel blockers, phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors, and intravenous prostacyclin analogues in reducing RP frequency, severity, and duration. Intravenous iloprost had a small to moderate effect size in improving DU healing. Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors were effective in reducing total DU count, new DU occurrence, and enhancing DU healing. Bosentan effectively prevented new DU in SSc patients. No new safety concerns were associated with these treatments. The studies on non-pharmacological interventions were, in general, of low quality, and had a small sample size. Warming measures decreased frequency and duration of RP attacks; laser therapy improved RP-related outcomes; local oxygen-ozone therapy improved RP outcomes as an add-on therapy; bone marrow mononuclear cell implantation improved DU-associated pain; periarterial sympathectomy and vascular bypass reduced DU number and finger amputation risk.
CONCLUSION
The available evidence supports the efficacy and safety of pharmacological interventions, namely nifedipine, sildenafil, iloprost, and bosentan in treating RP and DU in patients with SSc and other CTD. Scarce and low-quality evidence does support the use of some non-pharmacological interventions but with only a modest effect size. This SLR underscores the limited availability of high-quality evidence for determining the optimal treatment.
PubMed: 38306796
DOI: No ID Found