New study examines the role of air pollution on stroke trajectory, including
"We found that a high levelair pollution is associated with an increased risk of the transition from health to first stroke, cardiovascular events after stroke, and death, but with a stronger effect on the transition from health to stroke," – said study author Hualien Lin.
The study involved 318,752 peoplefrom the UK Biobank database with a median age of 56 years. Participants did not have a stroke or cardiovascular disease at the start of the study. The researchers studied the extent to which people were exposed to air pollution depending on where they lived at the start of the study. Participants were followed for an average of 12 years.
During this time, 5,967 people had a stroke. Of these, 2,985 developed cardiovascular disease and 1,020 subsequently died.
In people exposed to high levels of pollutionair, the likelihood of a first stroke, cardiovascular disease after a stroke or death was higher than in people not exposed to high levels of pollution.
After adjusting for other factors thatcould play a role, such as smoking and physical activity levels, the researchers found that for every 5 micrograms per cubic meter increase in fine particulate matter, the risk of going from healthy to first stroke increased by 24%, and from healthy to death, the risk increased by 24%. thirty%.
The researchers also found that the pollutants nitric oxide and nitric dioxide were associated with an increased risk of stroke and death.
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