Heart Attack Triggered By Road Smog, Report Says

Air Pollution Ups Risk of Heart Attack

As if the stress of heavy traffic on congested roads was not enough, a British study shows that heavy air pollution can trigger a heart attack, but that those people with cardiac conditions are more susceptible.

Published on BMJ.com yesterday, the study was conducted by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The report reveals that the risk of a heart attack spiked for six hours after exposure to air pollution but that the risk declined after that gap. This verifies the results of other studies which show that traffic pollution has a quick detrimental effect on the heart after exposure.

For the study, the health records of 79,288 patients in Wales and England who lived in highly-urbanized areas were examined for incidence of a heart attack versus local air pollution data provided by the U.K. National Air Quality Archive.

Suspended particles, carbon monoxide, ozone and nitrogen dioxide levels were measured and those geographic areas with the highest levels were linked to higher cases of heart attacks.

The researchers of the heart attack study accounted for other factors such as temperature, humidity, day of the week and others to clearly establish the connection between acute cardiac episodes and air pollution.

In an editorial, Dr. Simon Hales and Prof. Richard Edwards wrote that, "Given other evidence that exposure to air pollution increases overall mortality and morbidity, the case for stringent controls on pollutant levels remain strong."

The risk of a heart attack can be elevated by multiple factors including diet, genetics, lifestyle, stress and environmental factors such as air pollution.

Posted by George Daniels on Wednesday September 21 2011, 7:27 PM EST. Ref: Time. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0