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Air pollution has been significantly linked to an increased risk of hospitalization for various neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease. Alzheimer Disease and other dementias in a large long-term adult study in the United States.
Air pollution was significantly linked to an increased risk of hospitalization for various neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other dementias, in a long-term study of more than 63 million older adults in the US conducted by researchers at Harvard TH Chan Health.
The study was conducted with colleagues at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University Columbia UniversityThe Mailman School of Public Health is the first nationwide analysis of the relationship between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and neurodegenerative diseases in the United States. The researchers used an unprecedented amount of data compared to previous studies on air pollution and neurological disorders.
The study will be published online today (October 19, 2020) The lancet Planet health.
“The Lancet Commission’s 2020 report on the prevention, intervention and care of Dementia added air pollution as one of the modifiable risk factors for these findings,” said Xiao Wu, PhD student in biostatistics at Harvard Chan School and co-lead author of the study. “Our study builds on the small but emerging body of evidence to suggest that long-term PM2.5 exposures are associated with an increased risk of neurological health deterioration, even at PM2.5 levels well below current national levels Standards lie. ”
The researchers examined the hospitalization data of 63,038,019 Medicare recipients in the US for 17 years (2000-2016) and linked them to estimated PM2.5 concentrations by zip code. Taking into account potential confounders such as socioeconomic status, they found that for every 5 micrograms per cubic meter of air (μg / m3) increase in annual PM2.5 concentrations, there was a 13% increased risk of first-time hospitalization for Parkinson’s disease and for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. This risk remained elevated even below supposedly safe PM2.5 exposure values, which according to the current standards of the US Environmental Protection Agency are an annual average of 12 μg / m3 or less.
The study found that women, whites, and urban populations were particularly vulnerable. Older adults in the northeastern United States were at greatest risk for first-time admission to Parkinson’s disease. Older adults in the Midwest were at the highest risk when first admitting Alzheimer’s and related dementias.
“Our US-wide study shows that current standards do not adequately protect the aging American population and underscores the need for more stringent standards and guidelines that will help further reduce PM2.5 levels and improve overall air quality,” said Antonella Zanobetti, principal research scientist in the environmental health department at Harvard Chan School and co-senior author on the study.
Reference: October 19, 2020, The Lancet Planetary Health.
DOI: 10.1016 / S2542-5196 (20) 30227-8
Liuhua Shi, a research fellow at the Rollins School of Public Health in Emory, was co-lead author and Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, assistant professor of environmental health science at the Mailman School of Public Health in Colombia, was a co-senior author.
Other authors from Harvard Chan School were Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi, Danielle Braun, Yaguang Wei, Yun Wang, Joel Schwartz, and Francesca Dominici.
This study was supported by the Health Effects Institute (4953-RFA14-3 / 16-4), the National Institute on Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS R01 ES024332, R01 ES028805, R21 ES028472, P30 ES009089, P30 ES000002), and the National Institute on Aging (NIA / NIH R01 AG066793-01, P50 AG025688) and the HERCULES Center (P30ES019776). The research described in this article was conducted on behalf of the Health Effects Institute, an organization jointly funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (Assistant Award Number R-83467701) and a number of automobile and engine manufacturers.
“Long-Term Effects of PM2.5 on Neurological Disorders in the American Medicare Population: A Long-Term Cohort Study”, Liuhua Shi, Xiao Wu, Mahdieh Danesh Yazdi, Danielle Braun, Yara Abu Awad, Yaguang Wei, Pengfei Liu, Qian Di, Yun Wang, Joel Schwartz, Francesca Dominici, Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, Antonella Zanobetti, The Lancet Planetary Health, online October 19, 2020, doi: https: /
