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Posts Tagged ‘Risk’

A recent U.S. study published by the New England Journal of Medicine has found significant links between small particle air pollution and heart disease and strokes in women. The researchers were based at the University of Washington and used data provided from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Observational Study involving 65,893 women in and around 36 U.S. cities. Of major importance in the WHI study was the establishment of a stronger statistical association between fine particulate air pollution and death from coronary heart disease than that found in previous studies.

The average particulate levels in the study ranged from about 4 micrograms to almost 20 micrograms per cubic meter. The researchers found that each 10 microgram rise was matched by a 76% increase in the chances of death from heart disease or stroke. Many of these particles are so tiny that it would take over 2 dozen to equal the thickness of a human hair.

It has long been known that particulates can contribute to lung and heart disease, with women perhaps more susceptible than men to heart problems because of their smaller blood vessels and other biological differences. Researchers believe that when dirty air is inhaled, invisible pollutants can become embedded in the lungs or travel through the bloodstream. They may then harden arteries or cause inflammation leading to cardiac disease or stroke. Unlike earlier studies, this one looked not just at deaths, but also at heart attacks, coronary disease, strokes and clogged arteries. In their calculations, the researchers tried to adjust for lower income and other health problems that have been blamed for the higher rates of disease in past studies.

Indoor air quality professionals have known for years that fine particulate air pollution can cause respiratory problems, especially in infants, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. The Environmental Protection Agency tightened its daily limit on exposure to fine particulates in September 2006, but left the annual limit at a concentration of 15 millionths of a gram for every cubic meter of air. Many health professionals and air quality experts felt that the new EPA rules didn’t go far enough to protect the public. Several environmental groups and individual states sued the EPA last year for disregarding advice from its own scientists regarding tighter rules on fine particulate matter. The EPA’s Air Quality Index provides daily updates, including fine particle pollution and can be found at http://airnow.gov/

Although there isn’t much you can do about outdoor air pollution, indoor air quality is something you can have control over. Commercial air cleaners are not just for businesses, they have residential applications as well. For example, the SE-400 can remove large quantities of airborne particles that enter your home. The unit features a tightly woven aluminum mesh pre-filter that first removes large particles. Next, the smaller particles are trapped by the collector cells, which collect the particles like strong magnets. Help reduce the threat to your health from fine particulate matter by using superior commercial air cleaners.

Air is our main contact with the environment in which we find ourselves. Every day, we breathe in 15 kg of air; that’s more than our daily food intake. Air, in cities and confined environments where houses are really close together, consists of particles of different sizes charged of chemical pollutants. The finer particles will come into contact with the alveoli and will allow some pollutants go directly into the bloodstream, resulting in diseases. Our environment is directly linked to emergence of diseases. Purifying the air in your house becomes vital. Thanks to new technological methods, it is possible to purify the air you breathe by reducing the number of micro-particles.

Pollution of indoor environments

The environment in developed countries has changed profoundly over the past few decades. The habitats have become tight, insulated and have not allowed the walls to breathe. The urbanization, industrial pollution air pollution and the massive use of chemical pollutants have accentuated the importance of these new diseases created by man. In the United States, the result is appalling. Asthmatics have been numbered in the millions, not counting heart attack, infertility, asthma, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity disease.

Air pollution may increase the risk of heart attack

The fine particles of pollution can cause blood clots, many researchers have discovered. The discovery helps explain how air pollution can cause blood clotting and possibly heart attacks. New medical studies have shown that air pollution from trucks exhaust, buses, cars and certain factories increase the risk of heart disease and fatal heart attacks. Air pollution tends to provoke inflammation of the lungs. Once inflamed by pollution, the lungs secrete interleukin-6, a hormone of defense of the immune system that may aggravate the inflammation and makes it more conducive to blood clotting.

Air pollution can cause infertility, asthma and certain cancers

The more closed a domestic environment is, the more the air is polluted with major pollutants (acids, organic chemicals, metals, gases, and soil or dust particles); it must be purified in a consistent manner. Otherwise, the air is stagnant, full of moisture and becomes a factor conducive to new biological, chemical and organic pollutants. These pollutants can cause respiratory and inflammatory diseases – rhinitis, allergies, asthma, infertility, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, diabetes and certain systemic diseases (diseases that affect a number of organs and tissues, or affect the body as a whole).

Some combined chemicals have an ebullition power at low temperature and evaporate at room temperature. Their sources are from furniture, construction materials (paints, adhesives, flooring) and general maintenance. They are factors of serious diseases. Among them, only formaldehyde can be detected by a search for Immunoglobulin E (IgE). Formaldehyde is a carcinogen chemical compound. It does not affect the breathing capacity but potentiates the effects of other pollutants.

Some other toxic chemical that can be found in the air we breathe at home are glycol ethers. Glycol ethers are toxic for red blood cells, bone marrow and lymph. They can cause infertility in men and women. They are easily transmitted by contact with skin.

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Everyone reacts differently to air pollution. Children, the elderly and those with heart or lung disease are most sensitive to the adverse health effects of air pollution. People with diabetes are also at greater risk because they are more prone to heart disease. Even Canadians who are relatively fit and healthy can experience symptoms when exercising or working outdoors if pollution levels are higher than usual.

This winter, pay attention to the air pollution readings in your area, even if the sky is blue and the air smells clean and fresh. Depending on the length of time you are exposed, your health status and the concentration of pollutants in your area, air pollution can make it harder to breathe, irritate your eyes, nose and throat and worsen chronic diseases such as heart disease, chronic bronchitis, emphysema and asthma.

The Government of Canada is making it easier for Canadians and their families to plan their activities around the quality of the air in their communities. The new Air Quality Health Index is currently available in certain Canadian communities, with more to follow. The index measures three contaminants known to contribute to air pollution – ozone, fine particulates and nitrogen oxide – and gives out readings from one to 10 with health risks associated with each number. The higher the number, the greater the health risk.

This winter, take the guesswork out of planning your outdoor activities and see what the air quality is like in your area. The AQHI is available in parts of British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick with more areas to follow as implementation expands across the country. The index measures air quality on a scale from one to 10 and offers suggestions for modifying your activity to reduce your level of exposure to air pollution, depending on your risk factors. For more information on the AQHI, please visit www.airhealth.ca.

The type of stroke that results when a blood clot travels to the brain — called an ischemic stroke — is more likely to occur on days when the air contains a larger concentration of particulate matter, according to a study published online in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) examined air quality on a total of 37,000 days in nine cities. Risk of hospitalization for ischemic stroke was 1 percent higher on days with relatively high levels of air pollution, compared with low-air pollution days, reports lead author Gregory Wellenius, ScD, postdoctoral fellow in cardiology at BIDMC.

Third Cause of Death in US

“Although these effects sound relatively small,” says Wellenius, “given the large number of people exposed to air pollution and the large number of people at risk for stroke …. the actual number of strokes could be significant.”

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the US, affecting more than 700,000 individuals each year.

A “consistent increased risk” for cardiac health problems associated with exposure to ambient air particles was established in earlier research by Wellenius and coauthors Murray Mittleman, MD, DrPH, of BIDMC’s Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit and Joel Schwartz, PhD, of HSPH.

“Air pollution has been shown to trigger heart attacks and to aggravate the conditions of patients with congestive heart failure,” says Mittleman, who is also an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

“These new findings, demonstrating that incidence of clot-based strokes also increase, [are] in keeping with our earlier data showing a relationship between air pollution and heart and lung disorders,” he notes.

The researchers also looked at the incidence of hemorrhagic stroke, which is caused by bleeding in the brain, during the same “high pollution” days, notes Wellenius, but found no association between the two.

Reducing Exposure May Lower Risk

The air pollution in question — particulate matter smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter — includes particles from car and truck exhaust, power plants and refineries. The measurements were provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency from nine US cities: Birmingham, Ala., Chicago, New Haven, Conn., Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City and Seattle.

The authors analyzed hospital admissions among a group of Medicare patients with an average age of 79. Seventy-five percent of the patients were white, and 61 percent were female. Their findings showed that during the course of their study, there were 155,503 hospital admissions for ischemic stroke.

The final analysis demonstrated a 1.03 percent rise in ischemic stroke on the days with the highest pollution measures.

“We don’t know exactly what mechanisms are involved that trigger these cardiac events,” says Wellenius. “However, we do know that particulates in the air promote inflammation, which is a significant risk factor for cardiac events; that exposure to particulates can lead to changes in heart rate and blood pressure; and that pollution can cause changes in coaguable states (related to blood clotting abilities).”

The authors say that future research will focus on finding out which pollutants are most toxic, as well as which patients are at greatest risk for health problems stemming from air pollution.

“Taken together with previous work, these latest results support the idea that reducing exposure to particulate matter may reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks,” they conclude.