AIR POLLUTION: Bad for your heart – and everything else
July 19, 2019 • 1 min read
-- No one likes sucking bad air. But here’s news that’ll have you grabbing for a military-grade air filtration mask.
Long term exposure to air pollution will clog up your arteries, which can lead to serious cardiovascular conditions, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and heart attacks.
Bad air
Studies have linked air pollution with a range of ailments, including neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, lung cancer, you name it.
Just recently, a study from the University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions in New York linked long-term exposure to air pollution with atherosclerosis.
The story gets worse
Similar research carried out in China took things further, examining links between air pollution and proximity to traffic with coronary artery calcium score – a key marker of atherosclerosis (the build-up of plaque inside artery walls, and the harbinger of heart attacks).
You guessed it – long term exposure to air pollution was independently associated with a higher coronary artery calcium score.
Strap on one of these babies - or try forest bathing.