Your Brain Structure Can be Damaged by Prolonged Exposure to Air pollution

Air pollution could not only damage brain structure, it increases the risk of developing silent stroke by 46% among people living in heavy smog areas.

Long-term exposure to polluted air can cause damage to brain structures and impair cognitive function in middle-aged and older adults, says study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine.

Researchers studied over 900 participants of the Framingham Heart Study and found evidence of smaller brain structure and of covert brain infarcts, a type of "silent" ischemic stroke resulting from a blockage in the blood vessels supplying the brain.

Air Pollution - Pollutants - Health Effect - Efforts to Reduce
Nearly 2.4 million deaths every year are attributable to air pollution. Air pollutants may be solid particles, liquid droplets or gases. Proper planning methods should be adopted to reduce air pollution.

Elissa Wilker, a researcher at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center said that the study was one of the first to look at the relationship between ambient air pollution and brain structure, and the findings suggest that air pollution was associated with insidious effects on structural brain aging, even in dementia- and stroke-free individuals.

Dr. Sudha Seshadri, added that it showed that for a 2 microgram per cubic meter of air increase in PM2.5, a range commonly observed across major US cities, on average participants who lived in more polluted areas had the brain volume of someone a year older than participants who lived in less polluted areas. They also had a 46 percent higher risk of silent strokes on MRI.

"This is concerning since we know that silent strokes increase the risk of overt strokes and of developing dementia, walking problems and depression. We now plan to look at more the impact of air pollution over a longer period, its effect on more sensitive MRI measures, on brain shrinkage over time, and other risks including of stroke and dementia," said Seshadri.

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The study is published in Stroke.

Source-Medindia

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