In a study he conducted in Vanadzor in 1987, early in his medical career, Dr. Karen Adamyan discovered that pharyngitis, the inflammation of pharyngeal mucous membrane, was being caused by the ammonia emitted by a local chemical plant.

"But we had a forest back then," said Adamyan, currently the director of Vanadzor's Hospital No. 2. "Today, ecological changes have caused changes in the statistics of certain diseases as well."

From 1992 to 1998 the forests of Vanadzor and the surrounding area were destroyed. Air pollution, dust saturation, noise - all this had to affect the functions of the human organism one way or another.

There were 264 registered cases relating to diseases of the cerebral blood vessels in 2003, and 14 more the following year. Cases of myocardial infarction (heart attack) also went up, by 36, to reach 192 in 2004.

Doctors witness that not only is the number of cases on the rise, but also the victims of diseases are getting younger every year.

"In the past, we used to have more stroke patients in the spring and fall. Now that no longer holds true. We register cases throughout the year," said Gayane Gasparyan, head neurologist at Hospital No. 2. She confirmed that over the past nine years, there had been a steady rise in the occurrence of diseases of the central nervous system - strokes, epilepsy, even brain cancer. According to data from the outpatient records of the Vanadzor Oncological Clinic, there were 300 patients with brain cancer in 2000, 298 in 2003 and 252 in 2004.

"Changes in the environment play an important role in the incidence of brain cancer. Air pollution, for example, damages the lungs and respiratory tract," said Svetlana Zargaryan, director of the Vanadzor Oncological Clinic. Chances of developing cancer increase when a person's level of immunity is lowered. The oncologist said that immunity is affected by changes in the environment, including the gas content of the atmosphere, or variations in humidity.

Environmental changes have brought about increased humidity in Vanadzor today-fertile ground, according to Karen Adamyan, for rheumatic diseases. Statistics on cases registered at Hospital No. 2 over the past few years bear witness to these changes.

Name of Disease	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Active Rheumatism	12	15	16	17	22
Cerebral Vascular Diseases	180	183	202	264	278
Myocardial Infarction	127	156	149	156	192

 

Among the diseases primarily caused by ecological factors, experts specifically point out those affecting the cardiovascular, respiratory, and circulatory systems, as well as cancer, and allergic disorders. Doctors do not consider it their work to specify which factors cause the spread of which disease. They deal instead with the specific treatment of a concrete disease. However, they do not deny the effect of any change in the environment - be it deforestation or industrial pollution - on the human organism.

Gagik Amiryan, forester and head expert at the State Forest Department of Gughark said that one hectare of forest adds fifteen tons of oxygen to the atmosphere and decreases carbon dioxide by 20-25 tons each year. Of the 5,000 hectares of forest that existed around Vanadzor, only 2,000 has been preserved, he says. Simple arithmetic suggests that an annual 66,000 tons of carbon dioxide is no longer being absorbed, and the amount of oxygen produced has decreased by 45,000 tons.

"In general, any organ will suffer from a lack of oxygen. This is so, for example in diseases of the heart, lungs and all the diseases of the respiratory tract, especially bronchial cases and those affecting the brain," said Karen Adamyan. He explains that the leading causes of heart attacks are stress, a sedentary lifestyle, bad habits, and other risk factors, and adds that the environment also plays an indirect role. Myocardial infarction or stroke is caused when blood vessels do not supply blood, or supply blood with low oxygen content. Moreover, an increase in carbon dioxide content leads to an increase in the rate of breathing, up from the normal 18, due to which substances are formed in the tissues of the organism that cause functional disorders.

"If this goes on, morbidity will increase," said endocrinologist Floriza Elizbaryan. She assumes that deforestation is an underlying factor in the rise in cases of cardiac, respiratory and other internal diseases, and cannot rule out the effects on the human organism of an increase in dust levels, certain atmospheric gases, an increased frequency of high winds, as well as noise pollution - all resulting from deforestation.

Data obtained from the monitoring center of the Ministry of Nature Preservation of the Republic of Armenia confirm that dust content in the atmosphere around Vanadzor has been above the recommended level every year since 1996.

Average Multiple by which Dust Content Exceeds Recommended Levels in Vanadzor

1996	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
1.3	1.4	1.5	1	1.1	2.2

 

In past years, the dust content was no more than twice the recommended level, but by 2004, that multiple had gone up to 2.7. A rise in dust levels causes more diseases of the pulmonary tract, respiratory system and cardiovascular organs.

Biologist and associate professor Zaruhi Vardanyan has another explanation regarding the importance of forests in the prevention of infection - phytoncides.

These are organic particles produced by plants that are bactericidal. Vardanyan believes that it is a decrease in the phytoncide level that has caused the rise and spread of new kinds of illnesses.

Studies by the monitoring center have not only revealed an increase in dust content. The atmosphere around Vanadzor also contains carbon monoxide and sulfuric acid - two substances harmful to humans. The content of carbon monoxide and sulfuric acid has exceeded permitted levels by a maximum of 1.3-2.4 times from 1996-2004, and in Alaverdi, a city in the Lori Marz, it is possible to see the accumulation of sulfuric acid in the air with the naked eye.

The reason for serious ecological concern in Alaverdi is the copper factory owned by ACP CJSC. This company produces copper without controlling the sulfuric acid produced - the acid is released directly into the atmosphere. Residents of Alaverdi breathe in the gas, which is carcinogenic, and also causes bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis as well as other respiratory and circulatory diseases. In Alavedi, registered cases of have increased from 1,447 in 2000 to 1,611 in 2003. Among oncological diseases, tumors of the trachea, bronchi and lungs dominate. While there were 1,063 cases of circulatory diseases registered in Alaverdi in 2000, this index had gone up by 164 in 2003.

ACP has been working in Alaverdi since 1997. A year before that, the level of sulfuric acid in the air was within normal limits. Data obtained by the monitoring center reveal that since 1998, sulfuric acid content in the atmosphere has been over the recommended limit, by a minimum of 3.4 times in 1999, and a maximum of 12.2 times, registered in July and December 2004.

Doctors do not consider it correct to look at the ecological system in isolation from everyday life. A disease is not caused by one factor alone. There are many such factors, starting from stress, poor social conditions, malnutrition, and not going to a doctor on time. "Add to that an ecological change - and one that occurs so fast that the organism has no way of adapting to it - and diseases will manifest itself differently in the patient," Karen Adamyan explained.

The State Budget allocates no funding for the study of disease trends, and to date, the government has made no attempt to examine the effects that ecological changes may have on the health of the population.