Recent studies warn that it can be damaged Cognitive ability Up to 60 years if you were exposed to smog or poor air quality as a child.
(Photo: Photo by Mariotama / Getty Images)
Los Angeles, CA-June 11: Smog hangs in the city on June 11, 2019 in Los Angeles, CA, on a day when downtown Los Angeles was rated as having “moderate” air quality. Los Angeles has the worst air pollution in the country, according to the American Lung Association’s annual State of the Air report, released in April and covering 2015-2017.
After decades, this was the first time the results included a child’s susceptibility to air pollutants and their effects on the brain.
The report is published in Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Handbook on Air Pollution..
Early exposure to air pollution
Dr. Tom Russ, director of the Scottish Dementia Research Center for Alzheimer’s Disease at the University of Edinburgh, News medical The effects of very early exposure to air pollution can affect the brain decades later.
This is the first step in recognizing the negative effects of atmospheric release to the brain and may help reduce the likelihood of potential generations of dementia.
Until the 1990s, when regular testing began, researchers lacked evidence of air quality levels, making it impossible to investigate the effects of early exposure to air pollution on later thinking abilities. Insisted.
Therefore, experts planned to demonstrate that past atmospheric emissions could be measured and then investigate who is involved in cognitive abilities during their presence.
Scottish researchers used mathematical models to investigate the relationship between exposure to air pollution and cognitive abilities as they grew older.
Lifestyle variables such as socioeconomic status and smoking were also considered.
Read again: Study that worsening air pollution in South Asia is causing miscarriage
This is what the research group discovered
Experts at the University of Edinburgh used a survey conducted by the same audience at the age of 11 to measure the general intelligence of more than 500 people over the age of 70.
To measure atmospheric emissions, which they were accustomed to in early adolescence, they also investigated where the group lived in their lives.
Such volunteers exposed to air pollutants as babies showed mild-but detectable-cognitive decline between the ages of 11 and 70.
The researchers behind this study did not investigate why environmental pollution tends to cause cognitive decline.But Previous experiment It indicates that it may be associated with contaminants, including metals that collide with the brain and destroy contaminated neurons.
Read again: Studies show that air pollution can ruin our DNA
Are there any other factors?
Dr. Susan Kohlhaas of the United Kingdom of Alzhaeimer, who was not involved in the report, pointed out that there is increasing evidence that air quality can increase the likelihood of developing dementia.
“Dementia is not an essential aspect of aging, and the likelihood of getting sick depends on variables such as age, genetics, and climate,” she added.
For important public health purposes, Dr. Koolhaas said society should work for healthier urban air.
She said experts could not relate childhood susceptibility to air quality to significant changes between the ages of 11 and 70 from this one study alone.
However, this analysis shows that historical evidence can be used to investigate such large-scale effects associated with brain health.
Therefore, Koolhaas said everyone must do everything they can to further minimize the number of individuals who will begin to have cognitive and thinking problems in the future.
Read again: Researchers at Harvard University link particulate matter from air pollution to neurodegenerative diseases
Check out more news and information about Air pollution At Science Times.
