Experts claim that living near streetlights can increase your risk of contracting a fatal disease.
There are millions of street lights across the UK, most of them concentrated in major cities and towns.
With a population of close to 2.6 million in London alone, the capital is one of the UK’s most polluted cities.
In general, cities have more street lights than small towns or villages.
Other cities with high levels of pollution include Manchester, Swansea and Leeds, according to the World Health Organization.
Big cities have high levels of pollution and street lighting.
A government research group has now found that air pollution may increase the risk of dementia.
Dementia is a condition in which mental decline is severe enough to interfere with someone’s daily life.
It causes problems with thinking, reasoning and memory. This is because these are areas of the brain that are damaged by disease.
There are now 944,000 people with dementia in the UK, more than ever before, and this number is expected to rise, according to Alzheimer’s Research UK.
A new 291-page report published by the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants looked at 70 studies that analyzed the brain effects of exposure to emissions over time. .
Medics have found that air pollution increases the “likelihood” of accelerating “cognitive decline” and “onset of dementia” in older adults.
This may be because contaminants enter the circulatory system and affect blood flow to the brain, they say.
The authors: “Reviewed epidemiological evidence reports fairly consistently an association between chronic exposure to air pollution and overall cognitive decline, impairment of spatiotemporal skills, cognitive decline, and increased risk of dementia.
“Results are heterogeneous with respect to other cognitive domains such as executive function, attention, memory, language, and mild cognitive impairment.
“Confirmed neuroimaging studies consistently report an association between exposure to air pollution and white matter atrophy.”
Previously, it was found that women who live in cities and cities have an increased risk of breast cancer.
What are the main symptoms of dementia?
Symptoms of dementia depend on the cause. However, common signs and symptoms include:
cognitive change
- Amnesia, usually noticed by a spouse or other person
- Confusion and disorientation, such as not knowing place or time
difficulty:
- Communicate or find a word
- following the conversation
- Visual and spatial abilities, such as getting lost while driving
- reasoning or problem solving
- handle complex tasks
- planning and organization
- Coordination and Motor Functions
psychological change
- personality change
- depression
- unrest
- inappropriate behavior
- paranoia
- Agitation
- hallucination
Symptoms characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease include:
- Memory problems, such as regularly forgetting recent events, names, and faces
- repeatedly asking questions
- Increased difficulty in tasks and activities that require organization and planning
- Getting confused in an unfamiliar environment
- Difficulty finding the right word
- Difficulty with numbers and/or dealing with money in the store
- more agitated or anxious
Experts say exposure to the light of street lamps at night can increase the risk of disease by 10%.
Scientists at the National Cancer Institute in the United States compared the incidence of the disease, which affects 2.1 million women worldwide each year, with satellite images taken in 1996.
They looked at breast cancer cases in women for 16 years and considered other control factors.
Past research has put forward various theories as to why exposure to street lights may increase women’s risk of disease.
A study conducted by experts at Harvard Medical School found that artificial lighting can disrupt a woman’s circadian rhythm (the body’s internal clock), thereby disrupting natural biological processes.
Light has also been shown to block protective hormones that help prevent disease.
Street lights have been linked to breast cancer, but pollution has also been linked to other ailments like asthma and other respiratory conditions.
Other health conditions associated with pollution include heart disease and lung cancer.
The risk of heart disease is because breathing in the exhaust can damage blood vessels.
This makes the turns narrower and tighter – increasing the chances of blood clots, abnormal heart rhythms, and heart attacks.
