Air Pollution Associated With Lung And Heart Disease

Air Pollution Associated With Lung And Heart Disease

A recent study showed a link between air pollution and certain heart and lung diseases, however, the exact cause of the association has not yet been determined. According to the study, high levels of some air pollutants can cause irregular heartbeats or serious lung problems if people are exposed to them for long enough.

Data used in the study was collected from England and Wales over a six year period from 2003 to 2009. Data analyzed was from Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project (MINAP) that keeps the numbers of hospital admissions for heart attacks and strokes, Hospital Episode Statistics and raw data from the Office of National Statistics on recorded deaths.

Data contained around 400,000 heart attacks that were recorded in MINAP, over 2 million emergency admissions for cardiovascular issues and nearly 600,000 deaths from heart attacks or strokes.

The most often met air pollutants in the study were carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter (PM10, PM 2.5), sulfur dioxide and ozone. No direct link was found between the air pollutants and cardiovascular deaths, except for PM 2.5 which different studies also confirmed played a role in irregular heart rhythms, atrial fibrillation and blood clots in the lungs.

In a related study, University of Edinburgh researchers report that particulate matter kills around 3 million people globally each year.

Posted by George Daniels on Saturday June 07 2014, 3:15 AM EDT. Ref: rebordit. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0