2024-02-29 12:54:12
THE ESSENTIAL
Chronic exposure to air pollution may increase the risk of older people being hospitalized for various cardiovascular conditions, according to a study. Examining the profiles of 60 million American seniors, the researchers found that “an average of three years of exposure to fine particulate matter was associated with an increased risk of first hospital admission for cardiovascular conditions.” “More intense efforts are needed to improve air quality and thus reduce the burden of cardiovascular diseases”, which represents the leading cause of mortality in the world, with some 17.7 million attributable deaths, concludes the study .
Stroke, respiratory problems, cognitive disorders… The list of pathologies associated with air pollution continues to grow as research advances. A new American study has now revealed that chronic exposure to air pollution can increase the risk of being hospitalized for various cardiovascular conditions among older people.
Questioning the link between cardiovascular diseases and air pollution
To reach this conclusion, published in The British Medical Journal, researchers from the School of Public Health at Harvard University, in the United States, reviewed the medical records of some 60 million American adults aged ‘at least 65 years old. They then compared them with their levels of exposure to air pollutants with fine particles PM2.5 (less than 2.5 microns), established using national figures for air pollution according to habitat areas. As a reminder, PM2.5 is capable of penetrating deep into the body and causing a lot of damage.
Between 2000 and 2016, the team of scientists followed the participants until their first hospitalization for at least one of these cardiovascular disorders: ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia and aneurysm of the thoracic or abdominal aorta.
Exposure to fine particles associated with increased risk of hospitalization
After cross-checking the data, the researchers found that a “Three-year average exposure to fine particles was associated with an increased risk of first hospital admission for all these cardiovascular conditions”, starting with ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases, heart failure and arrhythmia. In detail, the researchers estimated that lowering average PM2.5 levels from 7-8 micrograms per cubic meter to less than 5 μg/m3 (the threshold set by the World Health Organization) might globally “reduce hospitalizations for cardiovascular disorders by 15%”.
“To protect heart health, however, there is no safe threshold for chronic exposure to PM2.5,” remind the scientists. And to conclude by sounding the alarm: “More intense efforts are urgently needed to improve air quality and thereby reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease”which represents the leading cause of death in the world, with some 17.7 million attributable deaths.
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