Air pollution linked to raised heart attack risk

Published on Wednesday 15 February 2012 00:49

Scientists have linked exposure to air pollution to an increased risk of heart attack.

Researchers at a Paris university said that their findings showed that being exposed to all major toxic fumes, except ozone, for a period of up to seven days, “significantly” increased the risk of heart attack.

A review of previous studies conducted by Hazrije Mustafic, of the University Paris Descartes, Paris, and colleagues, suggests the risk was identified by three ailments associated with air pollution.

Previous studies linked toxic fumes exposure to higher levels of inflammation marker C-reactive protein in the blood. The protein is associated with heart disease.

The studies also linked high levels of poor air quality to abnormal regulation of heart rate and an increase in blood viscosity.

Researchers said that “improvement in air quality could have a significant effect on public health”.

But they conceded that further research is needed to determine whether improved air quality in itself leads directly to a decrease in the number of heart attacks.

The team’s findings are published in today’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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SlowNeutron

Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 12:21 AM

Did I log into Daily Mail by mistake?????? ----- Let's take a step back here, folks. What we actually have here is an example of typically poor reporting of science. This quality of article is like your kids copying out an article from wikipedia and handing it in as their homework. This seems to be a pretty routine and non-earth shattering scientific paper which was in the right place at the right time. "Significance" has a special meaning in statistics but nowhere is the actual risk, the increase in risk or the level of significance chosen quoted. I can more or less summarise the entire article like this.... "Pollution is probably bad for you but I'm not telling you how bad or how probable" Duh!!!!

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Alternative (High Octane) Fuel Head

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 02:58 PM

A "significant increase" of virtually nothing, is still virtually nothing. What are the "chances" of having a heart attack? To be honest, I don't think you can quantify that because having a heart attack is not down to chance in the same way that winning the lottery is down to chance. Whether you have a heart attack or not is largely influenced by lifestyle, which one has control over. I really don't see how supposedly medically qualified people can talk about an increase in the chances of something happening when they event to which they refer is not down to chance in the first place. ........... No doubt the environMENTALists will get all in a lather about all this and call for even tighter controls on air quality, however it will make no difference at all to general health.

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Willie Boy

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 11:24 AM

In Perth Western Australia, around 80% of the public sector and publically owned buses run on clean natural gas extracted offshore. With this gas being lighly taxed and only suitable for public service vehicles, Perth is doing what Scotland should have done years ago. And yes, go to Sydney and guess what - natural gas buses too. Good old Great Britain, supporting pollution, and inefficient public transport in a Scotland rich with resources.

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Willie Boy

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 11:19 AM

Anyone ever sat behind or near a First Group bus as they belch out filthy black pollution laden smoke. And have you ever wondered why these commercial operators are not run off the road for the filth they spew out. Yeh, money talks, it cerainly does in corporate UK.

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Jock McSprock

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 10:42 AM

Which is exactly why this gov't are doing everything they can to avoid EUSSR fines of £300m-they don't want us to know the truth of what is causing more damage, from the day we were born than any SHS could! http:www.guardian.co.ukenvironment2011mar11britain-300m-fine-london-air-pollution Perhaps if they banned motorised vehicles we might get somewhere at last, after all what do exhaust fumes do to the human body? Kill it ! http:www.second-opinions.co.ukdiesel_lung_cancer.html

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