Long time Exposure to Air Pollution and Heart Disease

Air Pollution Linked to Chronic Heart Disease (ScienceDaily, June 5, 2012)

Also discussed here: Air Pollution Linked to Chronic Heart Disease (Press Release, American Friends Tel Aviv University, June 5, 2012)

And here: Cumulative exposure to air pollution and long term outcomes after first acute myocardial infarction: A population-based cohort study. Objectives and methodology (7 page pdf, Yariv Gerber, Vicki Myers, David M Broday, Silvia Koton, David M Steinberg, and Yaacov Drory, BMC Public Health, June 24, 2010)

Research from Israel reveals that air pollution not only has a significant impact on mortality but also that those in the population that have undergone one heart attack are 43% more likely to have a repeat attack, compared to those who live in areas with better air quality. The authors point out that more population health assessment is needed and that more air pollution monitoring is needed to support that.


 

Key Quotes:

 “Cardiac patients living in high pollution areas were found to be over 40 percent more likely to have a second heart attack when compared to patients living in low pollution areas”

 “patients exposed to air pollution were 35 percent more likely to die in the almost 20 year period following their first heart attack than those who were exposed to lower levels of pollution”

 "We know that like smoking cigarettes, pollution itself provokes the inflammatory system. If you are talking about long-term exposure and an inflammatory system that is irritated chronically, pollution may well be involved in the progression of atrial sclerosis that manifests in cardiac events"

 "fine particulate air pollution is a risk factor for CVD [cardio-vascular disease] mortality," and demonstrated that a 10-μg/m3 elevation in fine PM was associated with an 8% to 18% increase in mortality risk for ischemic heart disease, dysrhythmias, and heart failure”

 "assessment of the effects of air pollution on potentially susceptible subpopulations is key to providing policy-relevant information to better protect the vulnerable"

"Our method of assessing exposure does have limitations. Because we are using data from monitoring stations, it's a crude estimate of exposure, which most likely leads to an underestimation of the association"

Related articles

• Air pollution linked to chronic heart disease (environmentalresearchweb.org)
• High air pollution increases risk of repeated heart attacks by over 40 percent (medicalxpress.com)
• Heart Disease in Polluted Urban Cores (pollutionfreecities.blogspot.com)
• Slight Decreases in Air Quality and Higher Risk of Strokes (pollutionfree.wordpress.com)
• Air pollution linked to chronic heart disease (eurekalert.org)
• Long-term exposure to air pollution increases risk of hospitalization for lung, heart disease (medicalxpress.com)
• The Local Air Pollution In Your City Is Linked To Local Rates of Heart Disease (deretornoacasa.wordpress.com)
• High Pollution Increases Risk Of Repeated Heart Attacks By Over 40 Percent (medicalnewstoday.com)
• Reducing air pollution during 2008 Beijing Olympics boosted residents' heart ... - CBS News (cbsnews.com)
• Cutting pollution 'helps hearts' (bbc.co.uk)
• Traffic-related Air Pollution and Health - a Canadian Literature Review (pollutionfree.wordpress.com)