Residential Proximity to Golf Courses Linked to Parkinson’s Disease
Living within a mile of a golf course is associated with a 126% increased risk for Parkinson’s disease (PD), possibly due to increased pesticide exposure, results of a population-based case-control study suggest.Results also showed drinking water from groundwater service areas with a golf course was associated with almost a twofold increased risk for the disease.Brittany Krzyzanowski, PhDThe study results imply that both vulnerable drinking water and airborne pollutant exposure may contribute to risk of developing PD near golf courses, study investigator Brittany Krzyzanowski, PhD, assistant professor, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, told Medscape Medical News.However, she cautioned that because the study
AMP has just published!
"Exposure to Second-Hand Tobacco Smoke in Portugal After the Implementation of the Smoking Ban: A Systematic Review"
Original Article by Nerea Mourino, Sofía Ravara, Cristina Candal-Pedreira, Julia Rey-Brandariz, Leonor Varela-Lema, Alberto Ruano-Ravina and Mónica Pérez-Ríos – A multicenter work.
Full paper here:
https://www.actamedicaportuguesa.com/revista/index.php/amp/article/view/21802
#environmentalexposure #Portugal #smokefreepolicy #smoking #epidemiology #tobaccosmoke #pollution #actamedicportuguesa
Exposure to Second-Hand Tobacco Smoke in Portugal After the Implementation of the Smoking Ban: A Systematic Review
Introduction: Estimating the prevalence of second-hand tobacco smoke exposure is a public health priority while evaluating the population-attributable disease burden and impact of smoking bans. We conducted a systematic review to analyze how secondhand tobacco smoke exposure has been assessed, and how its prevalence has been estimated among the Portuguese population since the implementation of the partial smoking ban in 2008.
Methods: A literature search was conducted in the Web of Science, MEDLINE and Embase databases until November 2022, applying a pre-designed search strategy and following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The search was not restricted by study period, study design, sample size or language, and was complemented by a manual literature search. A modified Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess the quality of the studies.
Results: Thirteen cross-sectional studies were included. The prevalence of second-hand tobacco smoke exposure among the three European studies ranged from 8.2% (adult population exposed at home in 2010) to 93.3% (adolescent/adult population exposed in bar/restaurant terraces in 2016). Three nationwide studies estimated children’s exposure at home: ranging from 32.6% in 2010 - 2011 to 14.4% in 2016. According to the most recent studies, 49.8% of women living in Porto were exposed during the third trimester of pregnancy in 2010 - 2011; 32.6% and 38.4% of children were exposed at home, respectively in Lisbon and the Azores.
Conclusion: A significant proportion of the Portuguese population, especially children and pregnant women, remain exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke. A comprehensive smoke-free policy is needed, not only in outdoor public places, but also in indoor private settings.
Linking the Urban Environment and Health: An Innovative Methodology for Measuring Individual-Level Environmental Exposures
Environmental exposures (EE) are increasingly recognised as important determinants of health and well-being. Understanding the influences of EE on health is critical for effective policymaking, but better-quality spatial data is needed. This article outlines the theoretical and technical foundations used for the construction of individual-level environmental exposure measurements for the population of a northern English city, Bradford. The work supports ‘Connected Bradford’, an entire population database linking health, education, social care, environmental and other local government data over a period of forty years. We argue that our current understanding of environmental effects on health outcomes is limited both by methodological shortcomings in the quantification of the environment and by a lack of consistency in the measurement of built environment features. To address these shortcomings, we measure the environmental exposure for a series of different domains including air quality, greenspace and greenness, public transport, walkability, traffic, buildings and the built form, street centrality, land-use intensity, and food environments as well as indoor dwelling qualities. We utilise general practitioners’ historical patient information to identify the precise geolocation and duration of a person’s residence. We model a person’s local neighbourhood, and the probable routes to key urban functions aggregated across the city. We outline the specific geospatial procedure used to quantify the environmental exposure for each domain and use the example of exposure to fast-food outlets to illustrate the methodological challenges in the creation of city and nationwide environmental exposure databases. The proposed EE measures will enable critical research into the relationship and causal links between the built environment and health, informing planning and policy-making.
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Kimon Krenz