Air pollution may lead to dementia such as Alzheimer's disease

Although it is known that health is damaged by air pollutants, it is pointed out that air pollution may increase the risk of dementia in elderly women in American studies.

Translational Psychiatry - Particulate air pollutants, APOE alleles and their contributions to cognitive impairment in older women and to amyloidogenesis in experimental models
http://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v7/n1/full/tp2016280a.html

Air pollution may lead to dementia in older women | Science Bulletin
http://sciencebulletin.org/archives/9913.html

Research teams such as Associate Professor Juzuan Chen of the University of Southern California (USC) in the United States make a hypothesis that "the influence of air pollutants on the brain contributes to cognitive impairment" and investigate this In order to analyze the data of 3647 elderly women aged 65 to 79 in 48 states in the United States. A woman who was not affected by dementia at the time of the survey was selected as a subject, and the survey was conducted after eliminating the potential bias due to geographical, racial, educational and social factors .

As a result, elderly women living in areas exceeding the particulate matter standard specified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency found that the risk of cognitive decline was 81% and that of dementia including Alzheimer's disease was 92% higher. By applying this risk level to the population of the United States, it is concluded that 21% of the cases of dementia may be caused by air pollution.


Professor Cable Finch at USC Leonard Davis said, "By burning fossil fuels, the fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) that occurs in the atmosphere is inhaled through the nose and reaches the brain directly, and the brain cells are microparticles It is thought that Alzheimer's disease worsens with the passage of time as an inflammatory reaction occurs by treating the substance as foreign matter It may be a new finding that air pollution adversely affects Alzheimer's disease but smoke of cigarette It is well known that there is a danger that contaminated air like Age will aging the brain. "

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 48 million people suffering from dementia worldwide, with 7.7 million more patients annually. This study suggested a relationship between air pollution and dementia, but in order to establish this causal relationship and to investigate the mechanism by which air pollutants enters the brain and has an adverse effect, it is more accurate and more The need for research in the area is appealed.