Air Pollution Linked to Dementia

Air pollution ain’t great for health.

Most studies have looked at the link between air pollution and cardiovascular disease; a new study finds a positive association between residential air pollution and dementia.

It looked at >130,000 adults in Greater London and found a positive relationship between dementia and their exposure to air pollution; this association was stronger for Alzheimer’s disease than vascular dementia.

These findings were independent of smoking status and body mass index.

So how many dementia cases could be attributable to air pollution? According to this study air pollution could account for 7% of dementia cases worldwide.

The observational study findings cannot prove causation but the authors advise that they “support advice to avoid air pollution” (fair enough, common sense). The other recommendations were to “reduce exposure to air pollution by avoiding travel during rush hour” (yeah, perhaps not so achievable) and not to bother with facemasks.

Considering that 91% of people worldwide live in areas with excessive air pollution, a sensible approach would be to reduce the air pollution (thereby decreasing health ill effects). No doubt the governments and corporations of the world see this as a major issue and won’t let profits get in the way of doing some real good for their people.

😂

REFERENCE
Carey IM, Anderson HR, Atkinson RW, et al. Are noise and air pollution related to the incidence of dementia? A cohort study in London, England. BMJ Open 2018;8:e022404. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022404
http://www.who.int/airpollution