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Air pollution linked to dementia and cardiovascular disease:
The number of people living with dementia is projected to triple in the next 30 years. No curative treatment has been identified and the search for modifiable risk and protective factors remains a public health priority. Recent studies have linked both cardiovascular disease and air pollution to the development of dementia, but findings on the air pollution-link have been scarce and inconsistent.
In this study, the researchers examined the link between long-term exposure to air pollution and dementia and what role cardiovascular diseases play in that association. Almost 3,000 adults with an average age of 74 and living in the Kungsholmen district in central Stockholm were followed for up to 11 years. Of those, 364 people developed dementia. The annual average level of particulate matter 2.5 microns or less in width (PM2.5) are considered low compared to international standards.
"Interestingly, we were able to establish harmful effects on human health at levels below current air pollution standards," says first author Giulia Grande, researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at Karolinska Institutet. "Our findings suggest air pollution does play a role in the development of dementia, and mainly through the intermediate step of cardiovascular disease and especially stroke."
Journal Reference:
Giulia Grande, Petter L. S. Ljungman, Kristina Eneroth, Tom Bellander, Debora Rizzuto. Association Between Cardiovascular Disease and Long-term Exposure to Air Pollution With the Risk of Dementia. JAMA Neurology, 2020; DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2019.4914
(Score: 2, Offtopic) by martyb on Tuesday March 31 2020, @07:46PM (4 children)
Yes, and no.
Growing up, I had my fair share of playing in sand and dirt, climbing trees, swimming in ponds and the ocean, running through fields of waist-high plants of who knows how many different species, etc. We had cats and dogs, too.
On the other hand, as an example, glancing at the label of a convenient-to-me spray cleaner, I see this list of incredients:
They use unconventional nomenclature but those percentage values for carbon are for isotopes. C12 (more properly, 12C is the most-commonly occurring isotope (98.9%). Next up is 13C which represent 1.1% of the naturally-occuring, stable isotopes (and which was not listed in the ingredients). All the other isotopes are radioactive and extremely rare in nature. 14C (better-known for its use in carbon dating) has a natural occurrence of 1 ppt (part per trillion). (For more info, see Wikipedia's entry on Isotopes of carbon [wikipedia.org].)
Doing the math, this spray cleaner has 0.15% carbon 14... a darn sight more than 1 part per trillion.
Okay, I can hear the argument that this is an extreme case, but is it? What about simple cleaners like bleach and ammonia? Good question.
Here's some of what Wikipedia has to say about bleach [wikipedia.org]:
And as for ammonia [wikipedia.org]:
Beware of comparing "bacteria, viruses, pollen, parasites" with cleaning products.
That all said, as with most things it is a matter of concentration. It is one thing to wander through a field of, say wheat. It is quite another to hang around in a just-loaded grain-elevator full of wheat.
Looks like I went overboard there; whew! Sorry about that! (Being cooped up at home with this pandemic has thrown me off more than I realized!)
So, sure let's NOT live in completely antiseptic bubbles, free of all potential pathogens! Some degree of challenge to one's immune system is okay and arguably necessary. But, let's be aware that cleaning products bring their own troubles to the table and may cause problems in their own right. The challenge is in trying to strike a balance between a "safe" level of natural "pests" and the cleaning products used to remove them. The devil is in the details.
Inasmuch as living in squalor is not good for one's health, neither is living in a hyper-cleaned environment. The cleaning chemicals themselves have their own potential for causing harm, irrespective of what various the various "nasties" may bring to bear.
Wit is intellect, dancing.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday March 31 2020, @09:15PM
I have to wonder: WTF do they care about the carbon isotope ratio in a cleaning chemical? Are they using it as a forensic tracer? Further, the cost of testing / controlling the isotope ratio would be insanely high as compared to any potential change in cleaning action the isotopes might have.
I think, rather, it's a screwed up label.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by deimtee on Tuesday March 31 2020, @10:16PM (2 children)
Alkyl (C12 40% C14 50% C16 10%) dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride: 0.3%
You are reading the label wrong. The C12, C14 and C16 refer to the length of the carbon chain in the alkyl part of the molecule.
CH3-Ch2.....-CH2-C(CH3)2NH3+ : Cl-
If you actually had something tha was 10% 16C it would instantly explode and irradiate the area.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 5, Informative) by deimtee on Tuesday March 31 2020, @10:23PM (1 child)
All that and I dropped the benzyl. Doh.
CH3-CH2.....-CH2-C6(H2(CH3)2)-NH3+ : Cl-
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 3, Touché) by martyb on Tuesday March 31 2020, @11:26PM
Whoops! Thanks so much for the correction! It makes much more sense, now. High school AP chemistry was a looong time ago. Got a 5 on the advanced placement exam, which fulfilled my college chem requirement. Next up was organic chemistry which was described to me as "Here's a 3-inch (~7cm) book. Memorize it." Ummm, nope! So I stayed with computer science as I had originally intended. Thanks again for the correction!
Please mod my original comment down as Overrated, too.
Wit is intellect, dancing.