Many airborne toxins produce local noxious effects on the airways and lungs as irritants. The respiratory tract can also serve as a portal of entry for systemic poisons as simple or systemic asphyxiants. Inhalational exposure can be covert and indolent (as in occupational exposure to asbestos or urban exposure to photochemical smog) or fulminant and obvious. The circumstances and location of th...

Substance abuse refers to drug abuse where the drug users become several affected due to the effects of the drugs. Some of the substances that are commonly abused include: alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine and inhalants. In adolescents/ youths the individuals may fall back in class, he or she may become antisocial and withdraws from the society and friend’s etc. excessive use of these drugs ...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of Alternaria Alternata (AA), a mold causing in children severe asthma is scarcely known, also due to the underdiagnosis of AA allergy, frequently due to multiple sensitizations to molds. OBJECTIVE To analyze this issue we prospectively studied all children attending our Division between January 4, 1990 and December 31, 1997. METHODS A total of 6840 children with a...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine the prevalence of drug use among institutionalized children and adolescents; to assess the degree of associated use of illicit drugs with alcohol and tobacco; and to determine which is the gateway drug to illicit drug use. METHODS A cross-sectional study was carried out in the Fundação Estadual do Bem-Estar do Menor, in Porto Alegre (FEBEM) Southern Bra...

BACKGROUND Epidemiologic data suggest that Chinese women have a high incidence of lung cancer in relation to their smoking prevalence. In addition to active tobacco smoke exposure, other sources of fumes and airborne particles in the indoor environment, such as cooking and burning of incense and mosquito coils, have been considered potential risk factors for lung cancer. OBJECTIVES We used a ...