Polluted air affects heart health – Research
According to a study by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), people should schedule their time outdoors according to the air quality to protect their hearts.
The results of the ESC Preventive Cardiology were released on Thursday and published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
The study’s author, Dr. Michal Swieczkowski of the Medical University of Bialystok in Poland, noted that cardiovascular disease deaths rose on polluted days and two days later.
“When staying at home is not an option, wearing a mask during peak pollution hours and avoiding areas with heavy traffic should be considered,” he advised.
According to Mr. Swieczkowski, the study looked at the relationship between air pollution and cardiovascular disease death, particularly deaths from acute coronary syndromes and ischemic stroke.
He stated that mortality statistics for the years 2016 to 2020 were collected from the Central Statistical Office, and the study was carried out in five cities in eastern Poland.
The Voivodeship Inspectorate for Environmental Protection provided concentrations of particle matter (PM)2.5, PM10, and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).
“The primary contributors to these pollutants are residential heaters that burn coal or wood and vehicular traffic.
A time-stratified case-crossover study design was used, in which the levels of each pollutant on the day of the week where a death occurred (such as Wednesday) were compared to levels on the same day of the week where no deaths occurred (such as all other Wednesdays within the same month) for each participant.
“The potential confounding effects of participant characteristics and time trends were minimized using within-participant comparisons between days in the same month.
Similar assessments for pollution levels were done one and two days in advance of a death, he said.
He claims that there were 87,990 deaths during the course of the five-year trial, of which 34,907, 9,688, and 3,776 were attributable to cardiovascular disease, acute coronary syndromes, and ischemic stroke, respectively.
The findings indicate unsettling correlations between air pollution and cardiovascular disease-related deaths, he said.
Policymakers, according to Mr. Swieczkowski, should take into account measures to promote clean air, such as subsidies for modernizing home heating systems and vehicle-free zones.
(NAN)
