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The Features of Lewy Dementia 1:00
(CNN) - People with heart conditions and living in areas with even minimal air pollution are at increased risk for dementia, a new study published Monday in the journal JAMA Neurology reveals.
"Interestingly, we were able to establish harmful effects on human health at levels below current air pollution standards," said study lead author Giulia Grande, a researcher in the Department of Neurobiology, Attention Sciences and Society, in a statement. from the Karolinska Institute.
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Higher rates of dementia were found in a neighborhood in central Stockholm that consistently registers air pollution levels well below the current European and US limit for fine particles.
Particulate matter is a mixture of solid and liquid matter found in air. Dust, dirt and smoke particles are larger, but there are also small inhalable fine particles that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Those are called PM2.5 because their size is generally 2.5 microns or less.
To put this in perspective, an average human hair is 30 times larger than a PM2.5 particle.
Heart problems, air pollution and dementia
Previous studies have shown a direct link between cardiovascular disease and the risk of dementia, while other research has revealed an association between polluted air and dementia. But Grande's team believed that no one had investigated how cardiovascular disease and long-term air pollution affected cognition when combined.
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The researchers monitored nearly 3,000 adults with an average age of 74, for up to 11 years. They all lived in the Kungsholmen district in central Stockholm, where the average annual level of particulate matter was low compared to international standards.
After analyzing the data, the researchers found that long-term exposure to air pollution was associated with an increased risk of dementia.
Now having heart failure, a condition in which the heart muscle is too sick or weak to pump blood well, or coronary heart disease, has increased the association between air pollution and dementia.
The largest association was between stroke, air pollution, and dementia. The stroke explained nearly 50% of dementia cases related to air pollution, according to the study.
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"Higher levels of exposure to contamination were associated with increased dementia. Exposure in the last five years of the 11-year study was more important than exposure in the early years, "the research noted.
"Our findings suggest that air pollution plays a role in the development of dementia, and primarily through the intermediate step of cardiovascular disease and especially stroke," Grande explained.
That's an important finding, the study said, because 68% of the world's people are expected to live in urban areas by 2050, where they are continually exposed to air pollution. At the same time, the number of people living with dementia will triple over the next 30 years, according to the study, which "poses global challenges when it comes to preventive strategies for dementia."
Because virtually the entire association of air pollution with dementia seemed to be channeled through existing or developing cardiovascular disease, Grande said there are even more reasons to "reduce emissions and optimize treatment" for those at risk of disease. cardiovascular, "especially for people living in the most polluted areas of our cities."
Air pollution Dementia Heart failure