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Air Pollution - Is it causing us to lose our minds ?
[The Cool Down] Air pollution has a clear impact on our ability to breathe and has been linked to many health risks, such as heart disease, lung cancer, and emphysema. Now, scientists have uncovered another possible hidden risk of air pollution: dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.Researchers at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health conducted an analysis of 14 prior studies and concluded that chronic exposure to air containing high levels of pollution classified as "fine particulate matter" was consistently associated with dementia and Alzheimer’s, Bloomberg reported. This increased risk applied to those exposed to air pollution levels below the current Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standard. What is particulate air pollution? Particle pollution, which includes dirt, dust, soot, and smoke, is created by cars, coal fires, factories, and construction sites. As the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) explains, breathing in particle pollution can be harmful to our health, particularly the super tiny ones, as they "can get into the deep parts of your lungs — or even into your blood." "Everybody has to breathe, so everybody is exposed to this," Professor Marc Weisskopf, one of the authors of the study, said in the BMJ medical journal, where the study was published. "The population-level effect could actually be quite large because the number of people exposed is massive." He went on to cite the need for regulators to step in and protect people from the many risks associated with worsening air quality. Posted by: Besoeker 2023-08-28 |
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