This Heart Disease Risk Factor Doesn't Show Up On A Blood Test - air pollution - by mindbodygreen

FYI

This Heart Disease Risk Factor Doesn't Show Up On A Blood Test

New Study Reveals This Hidden Source Of Poor Memory & Brain Fog by mindbodygreen

 

 Your competent? doctor started warning you about this a long time ago! Oh no, that didn't occur because of doctor incompetence! Does your doctor know anything at all about brain recovery?

Study Shows Air Pollution Makes Genetic Changes in the Brain June 2018 

The latest here:

New Study Reveals This Hidden Source Of Poor Memory & Brain Fog

Low-Level Air Pollution Linked to Cognitive Decline, Brain Damage

 Have your competent? doctor recommend EXACTLY how to test for this and EXACT INTERVENTIONS that prevent the problem! And why can't your incompetent? doctor do that simple task? You do expect your doctor to bring back your  5 lost years of brain cognition due to your stroke and not make it even worse, right?

Low-Level Air Pollution Linked to Cognitive Decline, Brain Damage

Summary: A new study reveals that long-term exposure to everyday air pollution is directly linked to poorer cognitive function and visible brain damage. Conducted as part of the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM) study, researchers analyzed nearly 7,000 middle-aged adults across five Canadian provinces.

Remarkably, the findings demonstrate that even low levels of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, well within international “clean air” standards, are associated with reduced scores in memory, comprehension, and mental processing speed, with women showing heightened vulnerability to visible structural brain damage on MRI scans.

Key Facts

• The Low-Exposure Threshold: Unlike previous research targeting heavily polluted global regions, this study proves that cognitive damage occurs even in Canada, a country with some of the lowest average air pollution levels in the world.
• Direct Biological Impact: The negative relationship between air quality and brain health persisted even after researchers adjusted for major cardiovascular risk factors like high blood pressure, diabetes, and body adiposity, suggesting pollution directly targets the central nervous system.
• Gender-Specific Vulnerability: Higher exposure to traffic-related air pollution was linked to visible, structural signs of damage on brain MRI scans, a trend that was uniquely more pronounced in female participants.
• Targeted Environmental Pollutants: The study tracked multi-year exposure to two common byproducts of vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, and wildfire smoke: nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter.

Source: McMaster University

The air pollution we breathe daily could be harming more than just our lungs and hearts. New research from McMaster University suggests that fine particles from traffic, industry and wildfire smoke is linked to worse cognitive function.

The study, published online in the journal Stroke on May 13, 2026, found that people living in areas with higher air pollution scored worse on tests of memory, understanding and mental speed. This finding was true for places where air pollution is considered low by international standards.

Higher levels of traffic-related pollution were also linked to small but visible signs of damage to the brain seen on MRI scans, and more so in women.

These relationships remained even after accounting for heart-health risk factors like high blood pressure, diabetes, and body adiposity, suggesting that air pollution may be directly affecting the brain.

“Dementia doesn’t happen overnight,” says Russell de Souza, associate professor with McMaster’s Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact and the study’s corresponding author.

“It develops over decades. Identifying factors that may damage the brain early, and that are potentially preventable, is critical for protecting brain health later in life.”

While the study doesn’t prove air pollution causes dementia, it does add to a growing body of evidence that air quality may impact age-related changes in memory or thinking.

Unlike many previous studies conducted in regions with heavy pollution, this research focused on Canada, a country with some of the lowest average air pollution levels in the world. Researchers studied nearly 7,000 middle-aged adults across five Canadian provinces to see if long-term exposure to common air pollutants was linked to how well people think and remember.

To do this, researchers compared people’s exposure over several years with their performance on cognitive tests. They focused on two pollutants: fine particles in the air known as fine particulate matter or PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide. Both are common byproducts of vehicle exhaust, with PM2.5 particles also common within fumes from wildfires and industry.

“Canada’s air is often described as clean, but our findings suggest that even low levels of air pollution are linked to worse brain health,” says lead author Sandi Azab, an assistant professor with McMaster’s Department of Medicine.

“These are changes that can happen quietly, years before any noticeable symptoms appear.”

Researchers say long‑term follow‑up studies are needed to better understand how ongoing exposure to air pollution may influence cognitive decline over time, and whether improving air quality can help protect brain health.

Funding: The research was conducted as part of the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM) study and was supported by funding from the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Key Questions Answered:

Q: If I live in a country with “clean air” like Canada, am I completely safe from pollution-related brain damage?

A: According to this study, no. The researchers discovered that even levels of air pollution considered exceptionally low by international standards are quietly linked to worse brain health. The damage happens subtly and incrementally over several years, long before any obvious clinical symptoms ever appear.

Q: Why does the study adjust for things like high blood pressure and diabetes?

A: Cardiovascular issues are already known to impair blood flow to the brain and cause cognitive decline. By statistically removing the influence of blood pressure, diabetes, and body fat, the McMaster team proved that air pollution isn’t just hurting the heart and lungs first, it appears to be directly damaging brain tissue independently.

Q: Does breathing in wildfire smoke or traffic exhaust mean I will get dementia?

A: The study does not definitively prove that air pollution causes dementia, but it provides powerful evidence that air quality directly accelerates age-related changes in memory and thinking. Because dementia develops over decades, identifying and minimizing exposure to these preventable environmental particles early in midlife is a critical step for protecting your brain later.Editorial Notes:

• This article was edited by a Neuroscience News editor.
• Journal paper reviewed in full.
• Additional context added by our staff.

About this pollution and neurology research news

Author: Adam Ward
Source: McMaster University
Contact: Adam Ward – McMaster University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access.
“Association of Air Pollution With Brain Health: A Cross-Sectional Analysis in Adults Living in Canada” by Sandi M. Azab, Sonia S. Anand, Dany Doiron, Karleen M. Schulze, Jeffrey R. Brook, Michael Brauer, Dipika Desai, Matthias G. Friedrich, Shrikant I. Bangdiwala, Vikki Ho, Trevor J.B. Dummer, Paul Poirier, Jean-Claude Tardif, Koon K. Teo, Scott Lear, Perry Hystad, Salim Yusuf, Eric E. Smith, and Russell J. de Souza. Stroke
DOI:10.1161/STROKEAHA.125.054251

Where You Live Could Shape Your Brain and Dementia Risk

 Your competent? doctor started warning you about this a long time ago! Oh no, that didn't occur because of doctor incompetence!

Study Shows Air Pollution Makes Genetic Changes in the Brain June 2018 

The latest here:

Where You Live Could Shape Your Brain and Dementia Risk

Summary: New research shows that neighborhood conditions — from pollution and housing to economic opportunity — may directly affect brain health and dementia risk. Analyzing brain scans and biomarkers from 679 adults, scientists found that people living in areas with higher social and environmental disadvantages showed signs of reduced brain thickness, altered blood flow, and white matter changes.

These biological differences were most pronounced among Black participants from highly burdened neighborhoods. The findings highlight that brain health is not only shaped by genetics and lifestyle but also by the broader environment and social systems we live in.

Key Facts:

• Neighborhood Effects: Higher neighborhood disadvantage scores were linked to brain changes tied to dementia risk.
• Biological Evidence: Altered brain structure, reduced blood flow, and vascular changes were observed in people from high-burden areas.
• Equity Implications: Results show social and environmental inequitie

Source: Wake Forest University

The conditions where you live may influence your brain health and risk for dementia, according to a new study from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. 

The study, published today in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Behavior & Socioeconomics of Aging, a journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, found that individuals living in neighborhoods with higher levels of social vulnerability, environmental injustice and socioeconomic disadvantage showed measurable differences in brain structure and function. 

“This study is consistent with other research showing that the state of the social environment in which people live can shape their brain health in profound ways,” said Timothy Hughes, Ph.D., associate professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and senior author. 

Researchers analyzed data from 679 adults enrolled in the Healthy Brain Study at the Wake Forest Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Each participant underwent brain scans and blood tests to detect early signs of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

The team then compared these results with three national-level tools that assess neighborhood conditions at the level of the zip code: the Area Deprivation Index, Social Vulnerability Index and Environmental Justice Index. 

Higher scores on these indices, reflecting greater neighborhood burden of the social determinants of health, were linked to changes in dementia-related biomarkers, especially among Black participants whose neighborhoods experienced the most burden of the social determinants.

These dementia-related biomarkers included a thinner outer layer of the brain, white matter changes representing vascular disease, reduced blood flow and more uneven circulation, all of which may contribute to memory and cognitive decline over time. 

“This study is one of the first to connect a variety of place-based social factors with advanced biological markers of dementia,” said Sudarshan Krishnamurthy, a sixth-year M.D.-Ph.D. candidate and lead author.

“It shows that the conditions and environment in which people live — such as access to clean air, safe housing, nutritious food and economic opportunity — may leave a lasting imprint on brain health.” 

The study contributes to a growing body of evidence that social and environmental factors are not just background influences but central to understanding and addressing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.  

Krishnamurthy emphasized the policy relevance of the findings. 

“If we truly want to improve brain health across all communities, we must look beyond individual choices and hone in on the broader systems and structures that shape health at the neighborhood level.” 

Funding: This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health grants F30 AG085932 and P30 AG07294; and the American Heart Association grant 24PRE1200264. 

Key Questions Answered:

Q: How does where we live affect brain health?

A: Neighborhoods with higher levels of social vulnerability, pollution, and poverty were linked to measurable differences in brain structure and circulation that increase dementia risk.

Q: Why is this study significant?

A: It’s one of the first to directly connect environmental and social disadvantage with biological markers of dementia, showing that inequality is literally imprinted in the brain.

Q: What can be done to improve brain health at the community level?

A: Addressing systemic inequities—like housing, environmental justice, and access to nutritious food and healthcare—could help reduce dementia risk across populations.

About this dementia and brain health research news

Author: Myra Wright
Source: Wake Forest University
Contact: Myra Wright – Wake Forest University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

The effects of genetic and modifiable risk factors on brain regions vulnerable to ageing and disease

Well, I don't have diabetes or pre-diabetes and don't live anywhere close to air pollution. Alcohol is used to vastly increase my social participation which is going to prevent dementia, so there! Don't follow me.

The effects of genetic and modifiable risk factors on brain regions vulnerable to ageing and disease

• 
  Jordi Manuello, 
• Joosung Min, 
• Paul McCarthy, 
• Fidel Alfaro-Almagro, 
• Soojin Lee, 
• Stephen Smith, 
• Lloyd T. Elliott, 
• Anderson M. Winkler & 
• Gwenaëlle Douaud 

Nature Communications volume 15, Article number: 2576 (2024) Cite this article

• 19k Accesses

• 2240 Altmetric

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Abstract

We have previously identified a network of higher-order brain regions particularly vulnerable to the ageing process, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease. However, it remains unknown what the genetic influences on this fragile brain network are, and whether it can be altered by the most common modifiable risk factors for dementia. Here, in ~40,000 UK Biobank participants, we first show significant genome-wide associations between this brain network and seven genetic clusters implicated in cardiovascular deaths, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and with the two antigens of the XG blood group located in the pseudoautosomal region of the sex chromosomes. We further reveal that the most deleterious modifiable risk factors for this vulnerable brain network are diabetes, nitrogen dioxide – a proxy for traffic-related air pollution – and alcohol intake frequency. The extent of these associations was uncovered by examining these modifiable risk factors in a single model to assess the unique contribution of each on the vulnerable brain network, above and beyond the dominating effects of age and sex. These results provide a comprehensive picture of the role played by genetic and modifiable risk factors on these fragile parts of the brain.

Outdoor Light at Night, Air Pollution, and Risk of Cerebrovascular Disease: A Cohort Study in China

 FYI.

Outdoor Light at Night, Air Pollution, and Risk of Cerebrovascular Disease: A Cohort Study in China

Yonghao Wu,

Peng Shen,

Zongming Yang,

Luhua Yu,

Lisha Xu,

Zhanghang Zhu,

Tiezheng Li,

Dan Luo,

Hongbo Lin,

Liming Shui,

Mengling Tang,

Mingjuan Jin,

Kun Chen and

Jianbing Wang

Originally published25 Mar 2024https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.123.044904Stroke. 2024;55:990–998

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

We sought to explore the associations of outdoor light at night (LAN) and air pollution with the risk of cerebrovascular disease (CeVD).

METHODS:

We included a total of 28 302 participants enrolled in Ningbo, China from 2015 to 2018. Outdoor LAN and air pollution were assessed by Satellite-derived images and land-use regression models. CeVD cases were confirmed by medical records and death certificates and further subdivided into ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% CIs.

RESULTS:

A total of 1278 CeVD cases (including 777 ischemic and 133 hemorrhagic stroke cases) were identified during 127 877 person-years of follow-up. In the single-exposure models, the hazard ratios for CeVD were 1.17 (95% CI, 1.06–1.29) for outdoor LAN, 1.25 (1.12–1.39) for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 µm, 1.14 (1.06–1.22) for particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm, and 1.21 (1.06–1.38) for NO₂ in every interquartile range increase. The results were similar for ischemic stroke, whereas no association was observed for hemorrhagic stroke. In the multiple-exposure models, the associations of outdoor LAN and PM with CeVD persisted but not for ischemic stroke. Furthermore, no interaction was observed between outdoor LAN and air pollution.

CONCLUSIONS:

Levels of exposure to outdoor LAN and air pollution were positively associated with the risk of CeVD. Furthermore, the detrimental effects of outdoor LAN and air pollution might be mutually independent.

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Nationwide Study Links Parkinson's Disease to Air Pollution

Well, your concern is probably the risk from your stroke. Have your doctor create protocols that eliminate your Parkinsons risk from your stroke. YOUR DOCTOR'S RESPONSIBILITY! 

Your risk of Parkinsons here:

Parkinson’s Disease May Have Link to Stroke March 2017

The latest here:

Nationwide Study Links Parkinson's Disease to Air Pollution

Researchers identify a hot spot in the Mississippi-Ohio River Valley

by Judy George, Deputy Managing Editor, MedPage Today February 23, 2023

Researchers found a nationwide association between incident Parkinson's disease and air pollution, which varied in strength by region, and identified a hot spot in the Mississippi-Ohio River Valley.

The relative risk for incident Parkinson's increased by 25% (95% CI 23-26) comparing counties with the lowest to the highest quartile of PM_2.5 (fine particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter) throughout the U.S., reported Brittany Krzyzanowski, PhD, of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, in an abstract released in advance of the American Academy of Neurologyopens in a new tab or window annual meeting.

The strongest association between PM_2.5 and incident Parkinson's was in the Rocky Mountain region, including Lake County, Colorado. Fine particulate matter was also associated with higher rates of Parkinson's in a Mississippi-Ohio River Valley hot spot that includes Tennessee and Kentucky, but the relationship was weaker due to an apparent ceiling effect.

The Mississippi-Ohio River Valley region has some of the highest levels of particulate matter in the nation, Krzyzanowski told MedPage Today.

"Finding a relatively weaker association where we have some of the highest Parkinson's disease risks and fine particulate matter levels is consistent with the threshold effect we observed in our data," she said.

"In the Mississippi-Ohio River Valley, for example, Parkinson's disease risk increases with increasing air pollution exposure until about 15 µg/m³ of fine particulate matter, where Parkinson's disease risk seems to plateau," she added.

The findings add important evidence to the role that air pollution may play in Parkinson's disease, noted Ray Dorsey, MD, of the University of Rochester in New York, who wasn't involved with the study.

Recent research has demonstrated that fine particles and the toxicants they may be carrying cause damage to mitochondriaopens in a new tab or window, Dorsey pointed out. "Other environmental toxicants, such as certain pesticides and dry cleaning chemicals, hurt mitochondria and are also inhaled," he told MedPage Today.

"This all suggests a possible common mechanism of injury and portal of entry for environmental toxicants," he added. "The answer to what is fueling the rise of many brain diseases may be under our noses."

Recent studies have tied Parkinson's with nitrogen dioxideopens in a new tab or window (NO₂) exposure, he noted. In 2022, researchers published an environmental agendaopens in a new tab or window to help address contaminants like pesticides, metals, and industrial chemicals that are implicated in Parkinson's disease.

Krzyzanowski and co-authors conducted a geographic study of 22.5 million Medicare beneficiaries, including 83,674 people with incident Parkinson's disease in 2009. They geocoded beneficiaries to county and zip code of residence in the contiguous U.S., and performed an individual-level case-control analysis to verify county-level results.

People in the quartile with the highest fine particulate matter had an average annual exposure of 19 µg/m³; those in the lowest quartile had an average annual exposure of 5 µg/m³. Incident Parkinson's cases were 434 per 100,000 population in the highest PM_2.5 quartile and 359 per 100,000 in the lowest.

Individual-level data confirmed that Parkinson's incidence increased by 25% (95% CI 20-29) when comparing the lowest to the highest decile of PM_2.5.

"By mapping nationwide levels of Parkinson's disease and linking them to air pollution, we hope to create a greater understanding of the regional risks and inspire leaders to take steps to lower risk of disease by reducing levels of air pollution," Krzyzanowski said in a statement.

A study limitation is that fine particulate matter contains a variety of airborne pollutants, some of which may be more toxic than others, Krzyzanowski acknowledged. Air pollution is tied to other health risks including dementia, which may reduce Parkinson's diagnoses and explain the relatively weaker association found in the Mississippi-Ohio River Valley, she added.

• Judy George covers neurology and neuroscience news for MedPage Today, writing about brain aging, Alzheimer’s, dementia, MS, rare diseases, epilepsy, autism, headache, stroke, Parkinson’s, ALS, concussion, CTE, sleep, pain, and more. Follow

Disclosures

This study was supported by the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health-National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.

Primary Source

American Academy of Neurology

Source Reference: opens in a new tab or windowKrzyzanowski B, et al "Fine particulate matter and Parkinson disease risk in Medicare beneficiaries" AAN 2023.

Is Bad Indoor Air Dulling Your Brain?

 Has your workplace/hospital installed CO2 detectors to insure that it is not building up?

In a major new pandemic trend, people are turning to carbon dioxide monitoring devices to help assess ventilation quality

 The below post is by e-Patient Dave last September so your hospital and workplace have had plenty of time to get this installed.

Winter’s coming. Time to talk about ventilation for coronavirus defense.

The latest here:

Is Bad Indoor Air Dulling Your Brain?

While we tend to worry about inhaling viral particles like the coronavirus, new research shows the air quality at work may have subtle effects on cognitive function.

• 
  

Credit...Getty Images

By Tara Parker-Pope

Sept. 16, 2021, 8:00 p.m. ET

How healthy is the air in your workplace?

It’s a question many of us are now asking to protect ourselves from Covid-19. But indoor air quality is also something we should be talking about long after the pandemic ends. Because not only can the quality of your workplace air influence the number of sick days you take each year, but it may even affect how well your brain works in the office.

A new study shows that poor indoor air quality is associated with subtle impairments in a number of cognitive functions, including our ability to concentrate and process information. The study tracked 302 office workers in commercial buildings in six countries — the United States, Britain, China, India, Mexico and Thailand — for 12 months.

The scientists used monitors to measure ventilation and indoor air quality in the buildings, including levels of fine particulate matter, which includes dust and minuscule particles from smoking, cleaning products and outdoor air pollution that seeps into the building. The workers were asked to use an app to take regular cognitive tests during the workday. The tests included simple math problems, as well as a tricky color and word brain teaser called the Stroop test, in which a word like “blue” or “purple” is printed in green or red ink. (The test asks you to name the color of the ink, but our brains want to read the word instead. You can try the Stroop test yourself here.)

The study found that the office workers in buildings with the poorest indoor air quality tended to perform worse on the brain teasers. While the effect wasn’t dramatic, the findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the air we breathe affects brain health.

“This study looked at how several factors in the indoor environment have an immediate impact on our cognitive function and performance,” said Joseph G. Allen, the director of the Harvard Healthy Buildings program and the study’s senior author. “This study shows that the air you’re breathing at your desk at that moment has an impact on how well you think.”

In the past, air quality control in buildings has been mostly focused on energy efficiency and comfort, with little consideration given to infection control or overall worker health. But the pandemic has prompted many workplaces to take a closer look at indoor air quality. The good news is that many of the changes being made to prevent the spread of Covid-19 are the same improvements that need to be made to improve the overall air quality linked with cognitive function and worker productivity.

“There is a newfound appreciation for how much the indoor environment influences our health,” said Dr. Allen. “Healthy buildings,” he said, should not just be thought of as “something we do during Covid or a crisis. It has to be the new normal, not the exception, going forward.”

Is your building doing everything it needs to keep you safe? This week I spoke to some of the world’s leading air quality experts about the 6 Questions to Ask About Covid and Air Quality at Work.

In general, you want to hear that your building has upgraded its ventilation filters to at least a MERV 11 but preferably a MERV 13, which is an indicator of filtration efficiency. You also want to know if building managers have taken steps to increase outdoor air or added portable air cleaners to the space. Be wary if someone tells you the building’s ventilation system can’t be improved or that they’re using a new, unproven technology.

Dr. Allen notes that even adding a portable air cleaner with a HEPA filter to the center of the room can make a meaningful difference in offices with less efficient ventilation systems. The key to choosing an air cleaner is to pick the right device for the size of the room. Dr. Allen advises that for a typical work space, choose an air cleaner with a clean air delivery rate, or CADR, of 300 for every 500 square feet of floor space — which provides about the equivalent of changing the air in the room every 15 minutes. Wirecutter, the product review site owned by The Times, has a useful review of portable air cleaners.

Dr. Allen is the co-author of a new book, “Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity.” He said he’s been encouraged to see more businesses and individuals taking indoor air quality more seriously as a result of the pandemic. Recently he saw a job posting at a major company advertising for a “head of healthy buildings” in the company’s global real estate division.

“It tells you that serious companies are changing how they approach their buildings, and they’re not thinking about this as a one-off during Covid,” said Dr. Allen.

While some of the technical details around air quality can be confusing, don’t be intimidated. You don’t have to be a ventilation expert to determine if the precautions your employer is taking are adequate to keep you safer during the pandemic and well into the future.

“The pressure is coming from employees, parents of kids in school, teachers — there’s a heightened level of awareness and expertise,” said Dr. Allen. “How many people were talking about MERV 13 filters prior to the pandemic? This knowledge that our indoor spaces have been underperforming is not going away. I think people are rightly frustrated and fed up with it.”

Learn how to talk about indoor air quality:
6 Questions to Ask About Covid and Air Quality at Work

 

Fish oil supplementation may mitigate CV effects from air pollution

I have 77 posts on Omega-3s with lots of benefits. Ask your doctor for an analysis as to the amounts needed.

Fish oil supplementation may mitigate CV effects from air pollution

Lin Z, et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019;doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2018.12.093.
Rajagopalan S, et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019;doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2018.12.094.

April 30, 2019

Patients who took omega-3 fatty acid supplementation had short-term CV benefits against fine particulate matter exposure, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“In areas with relatively heavy air pollution, supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids may represent a simple and effective way to protect cardiovascular health against hazardous exposure to ambient PM_2.5,” Zhijing Lin, PhD, of the School of Public Health at Fudan University in Shanghai, and colleagues wrote.

See Also

• Vitamins, supplements provide little to no CV health…
• CV health may improve with innovations in food systems
• FDA grants alirocumab CV outcomes indication

Chinese college students
Researchers analyzed data from 65 patients who were colle students in Shanghai and were free from CVD. Patients were assigned 2.5 g marine-derived fish oil or placebo. The fish oil contained 60% of omega-3 fatty acids (36% eicosapentaenoic acid and 24% docosahexaenoic acid). Concentrations of ambient particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM_2.5) were measured in real time.
Four rounds of follow-up were scheduled during the last 2 months of the intervention to collect data on time-location, individual characteristics, physical activity, BP measurements, fasting blood samples and food frequency. Several biomarkers were measured during follow-up including those of systemic inflammation, coagulation, endothelial function, systemic oxidative stress, antioxidant activity, insulin resistance and neuroendocrine stress hormones.
During the study, the average PM_2.5 level was 38 µg/m³. Patients assigned fish oil had stable levels of most biomarkers as PM_2.5 levels fluctuated.
Differences in PM_2.5 exposure between both groups varied by lags of exposure and biomarkers. Patients in the fishoil supplementation group had beneficial effects on biomarkers of endothelial function, blood inflammation, oxidative stress, coagulation and neuroendocrine stress response with a false discovery rate less than 0.05.
“This protective effect is biologically plausible, given that DHA and EPA directly reduce generation of reactive oxygen species through alteration of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-oxidase activity,” Lin and colleagues wrote.

Patients who took omega-3 fatty acid supplementation had short-term CV benefits against fine particulate matter exposure, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Source: Adobe Stock

Further research needed
“Given the recent spate of emission-related events around the globe including increase in forest fires across the western United States during the past decade, trials to test community- and personal-level protection actions in this setting are desperately needed,” Sanjay Rajagopalan, MD, director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute and professor in the department of medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, and Robert D. Brook, MD, professor in the division of cardiovascular medicine at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, wrote in a related editorial. “Until such trials are completed, vulnerable patients such as those with preexisting cardiovascular disease should follow existing Air Quality Index recommendations and use commonsense actions such as avoidance whenever possible of heavily polluted locations (eg, roadways) and environments.” – by Darlene Dobkowski
Disclosures: The authors, Rajaopalan and Brook report no relevant financial disclosures.

Exercising in Polluted Air Still Protects the Heart

You'll have to ask your doctor to analyze and confirm the pros and cons of living and exercising near polluted air. You do expect her to know the answer? She does have medical training, doesn't she?

Study Shows Air Pollution Makes Genetic Changes in the Brain June 1018

 

Effect of Exhaust- and Nonexhaust-Related Components of Particulate Matter on Long-Term Survival After Stroke November 2016 

 

The Lancet Neurology: For the first time, air pollution emerges as a leading risk factor for stroke worldwide June 2016 

 

Loss of brain tissue in older women may be linked to air pollution July 2015

Exercising in Polluted Air Still Protects the Heart 

Study Shows Air Pollution Makes Genetic Changes in the Brain

So for your recovery from stroke your doctor should be prescribing clean air along with forest bathing and visiting the beach. Does your doctor prescribe anything for your recovery except for E.T.(Evaluate and Treat) to your PT, OT and ST?  That prescription means your doctor knows nothing about stroke recovery.
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/study-shows-air-pollution-makes-genetic-changes-brain?

By Jason Daley | Jun 6 2018

There’s little question that air pollution is toxic for the human body. Studies have shown that particulate matter in the air can lead to lung disease, heart disease, strokes, and lung cancer. But researchers thought the brain might be protected due to the blood brain barrier—a natural system that filters out foreign substances and certain neurotransmitters before they circulate in the brain. A new study from researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles shows that many heavy metals found in the air may make it into brain tissue, and those pollutants are activating genes that may lead to cancers or neurodegenerative disorders. 

To understand how air pollution impacts the brain, doctor Julia Ljubimova, director of the Nanomedicine Research Center at Cedars-Sinai, produced air with the same chemical makeup as that found in Riverside, California, in the Los Angeles Basin. She and her team then subjected rats to the air, with different groups of rats breathing the polluted air for two weeks, one to three months, and 12 months. After examining the rodent brains, the researchers found higher than normal concentrations of heavy metals including cadmium, cobalt, lead, nickel, vanadium, and zinc accumulated in the rats exposed to the pollution for a month or more. Even more disturbing, coarse particles of the pollutants had switched on certain genes. The research appears in the journal Scientific Reports. 

“Initially I was even skeptical we could find anything. For example, a smoker has to smoke 20 years to develop lung cancer,” Ljubimova says, “so I was not sure that in three, six, or 12 months of exposure we would detect changes in these animals’ brains at the genomic level. I was very, very surprised when we found so many changes.”

So how are these heavy metals making it into the brain despite the blood brain barrier? The coarse particulate material gets in through the lungs, which absorb the pollution particles into the bloodstream and may somehow beat the blood brain barrier, which can weaken due to high blood pressure, inflammation, and other stresses. Particulates inhaled through the nose have a more direct route into the brain through the olfactory system and may accumulate through that pathway. Once in the brain, the metals cause inflammation, switching on certain genes including those that cause both benign and malignant tumors, and others that are suspected of causing neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s, ALS, Alzheimer’s, and other types of dementia—something that other recent studies have also found.

There are still many questions the study can’t answer. For instance, do these heavy metals accumulate throughout a lifetime, or can the body flush them out? And most importantly, can a study on rats translate to humans? While Ljubimova says it’s likely that the same systems are at work in humans and rodents, her team is also studying Cedars-Sinai’s archive of human brain tissue to see if there’s evidence of these coarse particles accumulating in the brains of people who lived in areas with air pollution.

Ljubimova says that while the pollutants in her study were based on Los Angeles, she guesses many of the same effects are happening in cities across the world with similar loads of coarse pollutants. The hope, she says, is that the study and future follow-ups will galvanize policymakers to take a closer look at the health impacts of industry, auto emissions, agriculture, and military activities in L.A. and other areas with pollution problems. She points out that more and more people are being exposed to questionable air as urbanization expands, and scientists don’t know all the possible organs and ill effects exposure can cause. 

“We thought that nature protected the brain through the blood brain barrier,” she says. “But now we see that no, air pollution affects even isolated and protected organs such as the brain. This is important information for thinking about new developments and ways to protect the public.”