Our ancestors already knew the benefits of fresh air and the fact that your grandmother likely knew: country living is healthier than city living. Let me qualify this somewhat: A recent study from the Netherlands showed that smog in cities has a detrimental effect on a person’s health (based on Lancet 2002;360:p.1203-1209). Dr. Gerard Hoek and his team from the Utrecht University revisited a group of about 5000 patients 15 years after the completion of a lung cancer study that was done in 1986 on these patients.
The authors looked up the addresses and classified two groups based on where these patients lived in 1986, either beside a busy congested road in the city or in a rural country area. 11% of the patient population had died of lung or heart disease during this period of time. When all of the other factors were kept constant and only the area where they lived was different, these authors found a significant 2-fold difference, which was attributed to chronic exposure to air pollution from traffic. The main reasons for this difference, they stated, was due to chronic exposure to black smoke and nitrogen dioxide from the exhaust fumes of cars. This study showed that air pollution by itself can double the death rate over a longer time period such as 15 years. In other words: It matters what you breathe! Useful related links to chapters of my free Internet based Nethealthbook:
Smog From City Roads Reduces Your Life Expectancy 2-Fold
Cardiovascular Disease:
http://www.nethealthbook.com/articles/cardiovasculardisease_heartdisease.php
Lung Cancer: http://www.nethealthbook.com/articles/cancer_lungcancer.php
Last edited December 10, 2012
