“Given the vast literature on the adverse health effects of air pollution, I do believe that people should be concerned about air pollution exposures”, Hart said.
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The researchers note that exposure data may be less accurate for earlier time points in their study due to fewer air pollution monitoring stations before 1999, and that these results are based on participants’ residential addresses, which may not necessarily be where they spent most of their time.
Particle pollution like soot is a known health hazard and linked to the risk of heart disease and stroke, but women with diabetes are even more vulnerable than most people, according to a new USA study.
Senior author Jaime Hart, an assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said the study was uniquely tailored to observe the ways people respond to different levels of air pollution.
The study involved 114,537 women with an average age 64.
Air pollution is a definite danger to one’s health, and has been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke, but diabetic women are significantly more prone to these illnesses, a new study indicated. The NHS study followed up with women every two years so they could update risk factor and disease status, with a consistent response rate of 90 percent. “It is important for clinicians to think about pollution exposure as a risk factor, especially for their patients with diabetes”.
All women experienced “small, but non-statistically significant elevations in incidence of CVD, CHD, and stroke”, but the risk for each 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air was 44 percent for CVD for the smallest PM size; 17 percent for CVD for road dust-size PM; and 19 percent for CVD from exposure to both PM size fractions.
Among women with diabetes, increased risk was statistically significant for all cardiovascular outcomes measured and across all sizes of particulate matter. There were 6,767 cases of heart diseases between 1989 and 2006 with 3,295 strokes and 3,878 coronary heart diseases in the group studied.
In their latest analysis, Hart and colleagues included NHS participants from across the USA, and examined the impact of air pollution exposure on subgroups at risk for CVD. PM 2.5, the finest particle, which comes typically from power plants and vehicle exhaust and can reach the blood stream when inhaled, enhance the risk most. He went on to state that most evidence also suggests that results for men would also be similar though hormonal interactions can not be ruled out.
The team found that these effects were greater among women 70 and older and obese women. “And we would always recommend that individuals don’t smoke, eat a healthy diet, and get regular exercise to reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease”.
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The study was funded by the NIH and the American Heart Association.
