ATLANTA, Jul 24, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Coal dust exposure is directly linked
to severity of emphysema in smokers and nonsmokers alike, U.S. researchers
found.
The study findings, reported in the Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care
Medicine, said cumulative exposure to coal mine dust was a highly significant
predictor of emphysema severity after accounting for cigarette smoking, age at
death and race.
Lung tissue analysis corroborated these findings -- the greater the
concentration of coal dust in the lungs, the more severe the emphysema.
Not surprisingly, the researchers said, emphysema was also more severe among
smokers than never smokers in both miners and non-miners and mine dust exposure
and cigarette smoking had similar, additive effects on emphysema severity.
"In this study we have shown that coal mine dust exposure is a significant
predictor of emphysema severity," study lead author Eileen Kuempel of the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement.
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