Environmental advocates fighting against air pollution can now add adverse brain and heart effects to their list of grievances against unclean air. According to MedPage Today, two recent studies published in the Archives of Internal Medicine find that even at typical levels of exposure, airborne pollution can increase the risk for stroke and cognitive impairment.
In the first study, researchers at Brown University found that short-term exposure to EPA required levels of fine particulate matter can increase the risk of ischemic stroke. By monitoring medical records of more than 1,700 people and measuring daily variation in fine particulate matter, the team was able to conclude that the odds of having an ischemic stroke were greater on days of “moderate” air quality compared to days where the air was classified as “good.”
“[This study] adds to the already strong evidence linking [particulate matter] to cardiovascular effects,” wrote Rajiv Bhatia, with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, in an accompanying editorial. “We may not fully understand the breadth of [particulate matter] health burdens.”
The second study was performed by a team at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, where researchers found that long-term exposure to particulate matter sped up cognitive decline in older women.
