Wearing Facemask In Traffic Cuts Heart Attack Risk

Facemasks can help prevent adverse cardiovascular effects caused by pollution, scientists have shown.

Researchers discovered that pollution from car exhausts caused arteries to stiffen, resulting in higher blood pressure and reduced blood flow to the heart, reports BioMed Central's open access journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology.

Heart Attack - Overview
Heart attack is the death of the heart muscle due to loss of blood supply. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Other names for heart attack include acute myocardial infarction, coronary thrombosis, and coronary occlusion.

Nicholas Mills from the University of Edinburgh worked with a team of researchers to investigate the cardiovascular damage that can be caused by inhaling diesel smoke.

He said, "Acute exposure to diesel exhaust is associated with an immediate and transient increase in arterial stiffness. This may, in part, explain the increased risk for cardiovascular disease associated with air pollution exposure".

To reach the conclusion, the researchers invited a group of 12 non-smoking young men to cycle on exercise bikes while breathing air that had either been filtered or been contaminated with smoke from a diesel engine.

Risk factors for cardiovascular disease - Introduction
Distance education for Overview of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease

They found that when the subjects were exposed to the polluted air, the blood vessels in their wrists temporarily lost the ability to expand and contract.

In a separate article also published in Particle and Fibre Toxicology, researchers report how wearing a facemask reduces exposure to airborne pollution particles and leads to a reduction blood pressure and improved heart rate control during exercise in a city centre environment.

Animation of heart attack symptoms
Heart attack can cause symptoms such as Chest pain or discomfort, Shortness of breath and pain in neck, back, arm, or shoulder and is due to blockage of blood supply to the heart muscles

Jeremy Langrish from the University of Edinburgh said, "We tested a range of facemasks that differed widely in their efficiency as particle filters. In general, those masks designed to reduce occupational exposure to dusts in the workplace were more efficient than those marketed to cyclists and pedestrians."

The authors say, "This simple intervention has the potential to protect susceptible individuals and reduce cardiovascular events in cities with high concentrations of ambient air pollution."

Air Pollution Affects Heart and Blood Vessels too
If you think that the harmful effects of air pollution are just confined to lungs, then here's something you should know: bad air can have toxic effects on the heart and cardiovascular system.

Source-ANI
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