:00:05. > :00:08.Hello and tonight Inside Out is in a very snowy Peak District. Coming
:00:08. > :00:12.up - The invisible pollution in our cities - and the children who may
:00:12. > :00:19.be paying the price. I wouldn't be surprised if some of this fumes are
:00:19. > :00:24.making his asthma worse, and bringing the condition on. Also
:00:24. > :00:27.tonight: We're in the Peak District villages where life goes on when
:00:27. > :00:30.the snow comes down. We've got the clothing, we've got the vehicles,
:00:30. > :00:38.stockpiles the fuel, and that way it's something that be enjoyed
:00:38. > :00:44.rather than endured. And how new research into Tourette's syndrome
:00:44. > :00:54.is changing lives. I'm Marie Ashby and this is Inside Out for the East
:00:54. > :01:03.
:01:03. > :01:06.Air quality isn't a problem here in the Peak District, but it's
:01:06. > :01:09.estimated it may contribute to as many as 50,000 deaths a year in
:01:09. > :01:14.Britain, and one pollutant in particular, is of big concern here
:01:14. > :01:18.in the East Midlands. Nitrogen dioxide levels in Nottingham and
:01:18. > :01:22.Leicester are some of the highest in Europe - so high they could be
:01:22. > :01:28.damaging our health. Luke Hanrahan has been finding out why, and
:01:28. > :01:31.whether anyone is doing anything about it.
:01:31. > :01:36.Good morning, it's 7 o'clock on Monday 28th January, you're
:01:36. > :01:46.listening to BBC Radio Leicester. If you're struggling to get in and
:01:46. > :01:53.out of Leicester on the roads, then let us know. Every morning the East
:01:53. > :01:56.Midlands wakes up under a cloud. From 15 years to go with the
:01:56. > :02:05.increase of cars, we are seeing for patients who are having problems
:02:05. > :02:09.with their breathing. This map shows just how quickly levels build
:02:09. > :02:12.up during the East Midlands rush hour - and right bang in the centre
:02:12. > :02:22.of all that red are two of our big cities, breathing in record
:02:22. > :02:22.
:02:23. > :02:25.quantities of one particular noxious gas. It's called nitrogen
:02:25. > :02:28.dioxide - it's invisible, but according to the latest figures
:02:28. > :02:38.Leicester has the highest levels in England, and Nottingham the second
:02:38. > :02:41.
:02:41. > :02:50.highest. In fact they have some of the highest levels in Europe -
:02:50. > :02:56.putting them 9th and 11th in a table of European cities. So what's
:02:56. > :02:59.the problem with nitrogen dioxide? Well the health risks still aren't
:03:00. > :03:05.fully understood - but we do know that even in healthy people just 30
:03:05. > :03:08.minutes of exposure irritates the lungs and throat. And it can cause
:03:08. > :03:18.real problems for people with respiratory conditions such as
:03:18. > :03:22.
:03:22. > :03:26.asthma. I'm asthmatic so I'd like to find out more. Nine-year-old
:03:26. > :03:35.Aadam has asthma too - it's so severe his family needs to keep a
:03:35. > :03:41.close eye on his breathing. I think when he first started having them
:03:41. > :03:47.we panicked a bit, but now we know what to do. We knew what to resort
:03:48. > :03:57.to. Normally after that he was fine anyway, there's more or less
:03:58. > :03:59.
:03:59. > :04:03.someone with him all the time. doors down is Aadam's best friend,
:04:03. > :04:08.and asthma buddy, Uzir. Both are now so used to their condition that
:04:08. > :04:11.they'd never leave home without their inhalers. I wouldn't be
:04:11. > :04:21.surprised if some of these fumes are making his asthma worse, and
:04:21. > :04:21.
:04:21. > :04:24.bringing the condition on. Each morning the two friends walk 800
:04:24. > :04:31.yards to Shenton Primary School - which is close to the busy
:04:31. > :04:40.Humberstone Road. Normally I just take my inhaler four times a day,
:04:40. > :04:50.and that will keep my asthma under control. What I'll do is take it
:04:50. > :04:52.morning and night, but if it's real bad I'll take it every two hours.
:04:52. > :04:55.We'd like to establish what the pollution levels are directly
:04:55. > :05:03.outside this school, and along with the university of Leicester -
:05:03. > :05:09.that's what we're going to try and find out. So this is something we
:05:09. > :05:12.call a NOxBOX, it measures NO and NO2. I'll use it along with other
:05:12. > :05:22.instruments to help me measure the exact chemistry going on in the
:05:22. > :05:23.
:05:23. > :05:27.atmosphere. Over the next week Kate will be observing what's in the air
:05:27. > :05:32.they breathe. We have over 450 children in the school, and many of
:05:32. > :05:41.them live nearby. So in terms of the long term effects, very
:05:41. > :05:44.concerned. In 2011 - here, on St Matthew's Way, which is just around
:05:44. > :05:51.the corner from Shenton primary school, the nitrogen dioxide level
:05:51. > :05:55.exceeded the hourly European limit on 209 separate occasions. The
:05:55. > :06:02.question is why - after so many years of trying to lower it - is it
:06:02. > :06:04.still so high? The answer could lie at the heart of the diesel engine.
:06:04. > :06:11.Since 2000, levels of other harmful pollutants have dropped, while
:06:11. > :06:14.nitrogen dioxide levels have not. So what's different? Well the
:06:14. > :06:21.number of diesel cars sold today makes up half of the total, from
:06:21. > :06:24.just 14% in 2000. Now I'm one of the millions of people in the UK
:06:24. > :06:27.who bought diesel car in the last ten years. Diesel engines give out
:06:27. > :06:33.less carbon dioxide than petrol cars and they're more fuel
:06:33. > :06:43.efficient. But unlike petrol cars the release nitrogen dioxide - at a
:06:43. > :06:45.
:06:45. > :06:48.level that has barely changed in 15 years. Doctor James Tate is an
:06:48. > :06:52.expert who's been looking at the nitrogen dioxide conundrum - trying
:06:52. > :06:55.to work out why the levels haven't come down. Despite the millions of
:06:55. > :07:02.pounds spent by the car manufacturers to meet EU emission
:07:02. > :07:05.standards. OK, modern diesel engines are fitted with a particle
:07:05. > :07:08.filter, to strip out most of the particles coming out of the engine,
:07:08. > :07:11.and it's been doing a good job at that, but a by-product of this
:07:11. > :07:21.whole emission control system is that the levels of nitrogen dioxide
:07:21. > :07:24.
:07:24. > :07:26.at the tailpipe have been actually increasing. It's quite a tricky
:07:26. > :07:34.balancing act, cutting fuel, reducing particle emissions, but
:07:34. > :07:37.also reducing nitrogen dioxide. And if you improve one, it might be at
:07:37. > :07:40.the detriment of the others, and that has been the case with
:07:40. > :07:44.nitrogen dioxide in recent years. Modern diesel cars are very
:07:44. > :07:54.efficient and good at driving up and down the motorway, but in city
:07:54. > :08:03.
:08:03. > :08:06.driving their emission controls are But Here at the Glenfield Hospital
:08:06. > :08:11.- they've certainly seen an increase of patients at their
:08:11. > :08:21.weekly asthma clinic. Jan Chanterelle has worked here in
:08:21. > :08:21.
:08:21. > :08:25.Leicester as an asthma nurse for 20 years. 50 years ago you had very
:08:25. > :08:35.few patients with asthma, or you'd go to class room and there'd be one,
:08:35. > :08:43.
:08:43. > :08:47.perhaps two patients who had asthma. Now there's one or two who haven't.
:08:47. > :08:50.Back at Shenton Primary School it's time to pick up the results of our
:08:50. > :08:53.experiment. There were a couple of days where we've had some quite
:08:54. > :08:57.high levels. The sort of levels where we really wouldn't it to stay
:08:57. > :09:00.that high all day. You are getting spikes when there's a lot more
:09:00. > :09:03.traffic - the mornings and the evening at rush hour - so these
:09:03. > :09:08.days we are seeing high pollution, sometimes twice as high as other
:09:08. > :09:10.days, so it does vary from day to day. So on some days every breath
:09:10. > :09:12.people take here is putting harmful pollutants into their lungs, levels
:09:12. > :09:22.so high the World Health Organization specifically lists
:09:22. > :09:24.
:09:24. > :09:26.that amount of nitrogen dioxide as damaging to humans. This map shows
:09:26. > :09:34.a snapshot of Leicester - and Shenton Primary lies on the
:09:34. > :09:37.Humberstone Road, right on the edge of this red area. It is certainly a
:09:37. > :09:44.Europe wide problem, but what is it that makes Leicester and Nottingham
:09:44. > :09:47.such hot-spots? Many of the cities in the midlands expanded in the
:09:47. > :09:50.Victorian era, with the suburbs around the edges, the businesses
:09:50. > :09:53.and shops in the middle of the cities. That means at certain times
:09:54. > :09:56.of day they are funneling large volumes of traffic down into the
:09:56. > :10:03.centre of these cities, which leads you to pollution hot-spots with
:10:03. > :10:07.respect to NO2. So there is a problem, and the city council here
:10:07. > :10:11.is aware of it. But what is it doing to fix it? There's different
:10:11. > :10:15.ways of looking at the data, and I think if you look at some of the
:10:15. > :10:18.data we capture, it may challenge some of the data we see from other
:10:18. > :10:22.sources, but as I said, we don't deny there's a challenge here, but
:10:22. > :10:29.it's one we are determined to address. By challenge, do you mean
:10:29. > :10:34."you have a high level of nitrogen dioxide? Well, that's what the data
:10:34. > :10:36.would suggest that's the case. Once we reduce NO2 we have to reduce the
:10:36. > :10:41.emission or the traffic on our roads, and that's something we're
:10:41. > :10:44.working on. Air pollution costs the UK an estimated 20 billion pounds a
:10:44. > :10:51.year. It's recognized by the government as the second biggest
:10:51. > :10:56.public health threat after smoking. But the uncomfortable fact is that
:10:56. > :11:06.most of us are addicted to our cars. And unless new technology comes
:11:06. > :11:08.
:11:08. > :11:11.along - children Aadam and Uzir Luke Hanrahan reporting there. Well
:11:11. > :11:13.the winter weather's been up to its usual tricks closing schools,
:11:13. > :11:19.causing accidents and traffic jams and piling the pressure on
:11:19. > :11:22.businesses. But here in the Peak district they seem to cope with
:11:22. > :11:26.snow much better than the rest of us and that's probably because they
:11:26. > :11:28.get so much of it. We've been spending some time in the villages
:11:29. > :11:34.of Parwich and Tissington where, for the most part, it's been
:11:34. > :11:38.business as usual. It's Sunday - the busiest day of
:11:38. > :11:42.the week for vicar Andy Larkin. He's got three church services to
:11:42. > :11:52.get to in one morning and 15cm of snow isn't going to stop him or his
:11:52. > :11:52.
:11:52. > :12:01.congregation. We're coming now to the small hamlet of Alsop. A small
:12:01. > :12:05.stable congregation of half a dozen or so folk who come. People don't
:12:05. > :12:13.really stop coming to church because of the weather. And
:12:13. > :12:18.although we get small congregations they're very stable and committed.
:12:18. > :12:23.Eight years ago Andy was an IT consultant in Leamington Spa. Now
:12:23. > :12:27.his commute to work goes over hill and down dale. I love it,
:12:27. > :12:31.absolutely love. A great place. Who wouldn't enjoy this wonderful
:12:31. > :12:35.countryside this morning? A wonderful place to be a vicar.
:12:35. > :12:45.Friends, welcome. We come to worship Jesus Christ, and we start
:12:45. > :12:47.
:12:48. > :12:57.In the congregation at Alsop is Sir Richard Fitzherbert. His family
:12:58. > :13:07.
:13:07. > :13:17.have owned the nearby Tissington $:/STARTFEED. But the days when Sir
:13:17. > :13:18.
:13:18. > :13:28.Richard could rely on an army of servants are long gone. Keeping
:13:28. > :13:28.
:13:28. > :13:36.this place going costs a fortune. Last year the heating bill alone
:13:36. > :13:43.was more than �20,000. We have to keep the heating on so that he
:13:43. > :13:53.pipes do not burst. We're thinking about the animals' first and then
:13:53. > :13:57.
:13:57. > :14:04.the properties. It doesn't put you off being so remote? I don't think
:14:04. > :14:07.we're report. This is the centre of the universe! Well, I'm not sure
:14:07. > :14:11.about the centre of the universe, but the centre of the village is
:14:11. > :14:21.the vintage sweet shop in what used to be the post office. I love the
:14:21. > :14:25.
:14:25. > :14:35.shop. You still get people out in weather like this every day.
:14:35. > :14:40.many people stop in? Yes. We get a lot of children at the weekends. We
:14:40. > :14:49.are used to this weather. It is about keeping the local customers
:14:49. > :14:52.going. All the walkers and tourists make the peak district the UK's
:14:52. > :15:02.most popular national park. But first and foremost it's a place of
:15:02. > :15:03.
:15:03. > :15:06.work. The Gosling family run a dairy farm above Parwich where the
:15:06. > :15:09.animals need feeding and the cows need milking no matter what the
:15:09. > :15:12.weather. Getting the milk tanker up this country lane in the snow can
:15:12. > :15:21.be a challenge. And the tanker's not the only one that's had
:15:21. > :15:28.problems. We have had a bit of a problem getting up here without a
:15:28. > :15:36.four-wheel-drive vehicle. haven't used our car for over a
:15:36. > :15:41.week because of the ice. You are remote here. Anything you want to
:15:42. > :15:49.come in or out of your form has to go on this road. It certainly does.
:15:49. > :15:55.It is not looking too good. Phyllis says her secret is preparation.
:15:55. > :16:05.grow a lot of vegetables. After all she can't just pop down to the
:16:05. > :16:06.
:16:06. > :16:13.shops. I have never seen a freezer so well stocked! Even the animals
:16:13. > :16:17.have to wear coats. They were born three weeks ago. They will wear
:16:17. > :16:23.these until they grow out of them. Then they will be passed on to some
:16:23. > :16:31.new animals. What are your top tips for staying cheerful? It is
:16:31. > :16:38.challenging. Wrap up warm. Eat good food. Think positive. Focus on
:16:38. > :16:42.better times ahead. The snow will not be here forever. Village pubs
:16:42. > :16:45.have been having a really hard time recently but as we're about to find
:16:45. > :16:48.out, this isn't just a pub. Inside the Sycamore Inn you'll find a
:16:48. > :16:58.roaring fire, a decent pint and the village shop, run by the Gosling's
:16:58. > :17:00.
:17:00. > :17:09.daughter Janet. People were coming in to the bar and saying that the
:17:09. > :17:12.shop was closing. That gave me the inspiration to open this shop here.
:17:12. > :17:19.What difference would it make to villages like this if there was no
:17:19. > :17:24.shop? The elderly might rely on the bus to get them out of the village,
:17:24. > :17:28.so this is very important. Church services finished, Andy Larkin's
:17:28. > :17:31.off to see Irene and Clarke Lomas in Thorpe. They've just retired and
:17:31. > :17:38.now want to train a team of pastoral visitors to reach some of
:17:38. > :17:44.the more isolated parts of the community. We need to get a list of
:17:44. > :17:47.people who want to be the visitors. Then it is a case of matching up
:17:47. > :17:53.the people who will do the visiting with the people who want to be
:17:53. > :17:59.visited. How important is community in rural villages like this in this
:17:59. > :18:04.weather? Very important. We're very fortunate here that we have a good
:18:04. > :18:10.community where people care for each other. For instance, or for
:18:10. > :18:16.this last week, people have cleared the snow for the elderly. Parents
:18:16. > :18:21.got together last Friday to fetch the children back from the schools.
:18:21. > :18:27.We literally know everyone. And they know us. We can look after
:18:27. > :18:30.each other and be aware of our needs. Why do you think people in
:18:30. > :18:37.the Peak District Court so much better than people in the city's?
:18:37. > :18:42.We are just ready for it. Clothing, vehicles, fuel is stockpiled. Then
:18:42. > :18:51.it is something that can be enjoyed and not endure. It is just one of
:18:51. > :18:55.the seasons, a gift from God. It is very beautiful.
:18:55. > :19:00.Sol, next time there is a few millimetres of snow for you to
:19:00. > :19:03.scrape off in the windscreen, just remember that someone else and a
:19:03. > :19:13.region has it worse than you and they don't complain about it. I
:19:13. > :19:17.
:19:17. > :19:19.wish I had brought my Wellington boots!
:19:19. > :19:23.Tourette's Syndrome affects one in 100 children, so the chances are
:19:23. > :19:26.you've already met someone with it. Most will grow out of their tics by
:19:26. > :19:28.the time they're adults. But what if you don't? The most chronic
:19:28. > :19:31.cases are life-changing. Anthony Bartram has been investigating how
:19:31. > :19:39.science being developed here in the East Midlands is helping to find
:19:39. > :19:49.answers. Try to hold your breath as long as
:19:49. > :19:54.
:19:54. > :20:04.you can. This girl has Tourettes Syndrome. Her text had been with
:20:04. > :20:06.
:20:06. > :20:11.her since she was nine years old. used to only come here when no one
:20:11. > :20:21.else was here. The neurological disorder affects one in 100
:20:21. > :20:22.
:20:22. > :20:32.children, causing involuntary text. Hannah has had a rough and at times
:20:32. > :20:39.
:20:39. > :20:45.dangerous ride. When I was 11, I went on the swings and I had one of
:20:45. > :20:51.my text. I was threatened with a knife. After the knife incident,
:20:51. > :20:59.invitations to play out disappeared. She has had nobody to come in and
:20:59. > :21:09.play at home. The main thing for me is it is the sad part of not being
:21:09. > :21:19.
:21:19. > :21:29.able to have a slipover. Midnight feasts somethings like that.
:21:29. > :21:32.
:21:32. > :21:42.chronic texts are difficult to control. -- ticks. I didn't know
:21:42. > :21:55.
:21:55. > :22:02.what was happening. This isn't me. They is a treatment which can help.
:22:02. > :22:12.Some children grow out of it. We're trying to use brain imaging to help
:22:12. > :22:19.
:22:19. > :22:24.us better diagnose this disorder and help predict outcomes. They are
:22:24. > :22:27.beginning to chart and compare neurological development in this
:22:27. > :22:33.laboratory. They're looking for patterns to help them predict what
:22:33. > :22:42.will happen in years to come. A charity has commissioned the
:22:42. > :22:52.research. Hannah is in good hands. The technology was invented in
:22:52. > :22:57.Nottingham. How long will the research continue? We have been
:22:57. > :23:01.studying Tourettes Syndrome for seven years. Now we will follow
:23:01. > :23:05.people every year and look at how the brain is changing each year. We
:23:05. > :23:15.will hopefully look at how the brain changes are predicting
:23:15. > :23:22.
:23:22. > :23:26.changes in your text and whether drugs work. -- ticks. They hope to
:23:26. > :23:34.use the data from the scams to work out which treatment will work best
:23:35. > :23:44.for which children. If Hannah is one of the 30% that do not grow out
:23:44. > :23:54.of the syndrome, at least she can prepare a plan. The brain study is
:23:54. > :24:00.
:24:00. > :24:09.supported by various bodies. Another part up of the research
:24:09. > :24:15.concentrates on physical behaviour. Kick-boxing has helped Hannah. The
:24:15. > :24:22.academics are married. We collected our data. It was a difficult
:24:23. > :24:31.control task. The literature was saying that they should be poor at
:24:31. > :24:37.this. Surprisingly, they were much better than-expected. While the
:24:37. > :24:47.brain study looks to the future, this work is very current. It also
:24:47. > :24:54.
:24:54. > :24:59.helps raise awareness. We have come to meet someone scoring positive
:24:59. > :25:09.points for Tourettes Syndrome. Only one in 10 people swear
:25:09. > :25:11.
:25:11. > :25:16.uncontrollably. This PE teacher is one of them. Meeting her gives
:25:16. > :25:26.Hannah a glimpse of a positive future, even if her syndrome
:25:26. > :25:27.
:25:27. > :25:32.remains. Proof that it does not have to hold her back. The spasms
:25:32. > :25:39.are random. They pick them up from each other and react to what is
:25:39. > :25:49.around them. The way I explain it to my students is it is like a
:25:49. > :25:49.
:25:49. > :25:58.bubble in my chest that rises up. My neck contracts when I have the
:25:58. > :26:03.spasms. Sometimes I can predict what is coming but I can't stop it.
:26:03. > :26:12.I can hold them in for a little while, but not long. You have to
:26:12. > :26:22.let it go. Some colourful language is not that out of place on the
:26:22. > :26:26.
:26:26. > :26:36.football field. I have heard you students are very supportive?
:26:36. > :26:40.
:26:40. > :26:50.difficult in lessons. If it is in context, they will last. So when
:26:50. > :26:50.
:26:50. > :26:56.your friends. They are laughing at what is said, not the person.
:26:56. > :27:00.easier for kids to understand than adults. It is another welcome
:27:00. > :27:09.connection for Hannah. Bringing reassurance about the future and
:27:09. > :27:18.friendships. Some people couldn't see past the Tourettes Syndrome.
:27:18. > :27:23.You're better off without them. I have met people that except me.
:27:23. > :27:28.Some of their marriage work. Some through football. Now I have a
:27:28. > :27:38.secure a set of friends that C D Tourettes Syndrome as they -- as a
:27:38. > :27:41.
:27:41. > :27:48.bonus. Hannah has a lot to take away from this meeting. She said
:27:48. > :27:52.that nothing should stop you and hold you back. Looking forward,
:27:52. > :27:59.Hannah has a 5050 chance of passing Tourettes Syndrome on to her
:27:59. > :28:04.children. Making the research even more important to her. If I have
:28:04. > :28:14.children of my own, I hope the research will help and I know that
:28:14. > :28:19.
:28:19. > :28:22.they want have to go through what I went through. That's it from the
:28:22. > :28:25.Peak District. Huge thanks to everyone who helped us get around.
:28:25. > :28:27.Don't forget if you've got a story you can email me at
:28:27. > :28:35.marie.ashby@bbc.co.uk or find me on twitter @MarieAshby. Goodbye.