Speaker
Dr
Tamara Azizova
(Southern Urals Biophysics Institute)
Description
Chronic respiratory diseases are widely spread among the general population. In recent decades, there has been a steady growth of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease worldwide. The World Health Organization predicts that this disease will become the third most common cause of death by 2020. The epidemiological studies of the Japanese A-bomb survivors, patients medically exposed to radiation for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and occupational exposures of nuclear workers revealed a statistically significant relationship between radiation exposure and mortality from respiratory diseases although other studies did not [UNSCEAR 2008]. Chronic bronchitis incidence (491 ICD-9 code) has been analyzed in the cohort of 12,210 workers (29% females) first employed at one of the main plant (reactors, radiochemical or plutonium) of Mayak Production Association during 1948-1958 and followed-up to the end of 2005. Work histories and dose estimates from the Doses-2005 dosimetry system formed the basis for this study. Retrospective diagnosis verification confirmed 1,175 cases of chronic bronchitis in the study cohort. Preliminary analysis of chronic bronchitis incidence in relation to total absorbed external gamma-ray lung dose for chronic bronchitis incidence did not reveal a statistically significant excess risk after adjusting for gender, attained age, calendar period, plant, smoking, total absorbed lung dose from internal alpha-particle radiation due to incorporated plutonium. In contrast, preliminary analysis in relation to internal alpha-particle lung dose revealed statistically significant increased risk of chronic bronchitis incidence after adjusting for non-radiation factors and external gamma-ray lung dose. The study was performed with the financial support of the RF Federal Medical Biological Agency and European Commission within the framework of grant agreement No. 249675 “Epidemiological Studies of Exposed Southern Urals Populations” (SOLO).
Primary author
Dr
Tamara Azizova
(Southern Urals Biophysics Institute)
Co-authors
Dr
Nezahat Hunter
(Health Protection Agency)
Dr
Richard Haylock
(Health Protection Agency)
