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Air pollution emerges as a direct risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease: Study
Nearly 28 million older Americans were studied over 18 years, revealing direct brain effects of fine particulate pollution on Alzheimer’s risk, beyond other health conditions.
- Emory University research team found long-term PM2.5 exposure is linked to higher Alzheimer's risk after analyzing health records of more than 27.8 million US citizens aged 65 and older in a PLOS Medicine study.
- To test whether particle pollution acted indirectly, the researchers designed the study to see whether PM2.5 raises Alzheimer's indirectly by causing high blood pressure, stroke or depression.
- The analysis showed PM2.5 exposure was linked to increased Alzheimer's risk mainly through direct pathways, and people who previously had a stroke faced slightly higher vulnerability among nearly 3 million Alzheimer's cases.
- Because disadvantaged communities face higher exposure, the study noted that individual choices cannot offset long-term effects and urged stricter air-quality standards to reduce Alzheimer’s risk.
- The authors cautioned that this observational study used estimated outdoor exposure at ZIP-code level and did not include indoor and workplace exposure; future research may focus on mechanistic investigations.
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Total News Sources5
Leaning Left2Leaning Right1Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Left
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources lean Left
50% Left
L 50%
C 25%
R 25%
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