The people with increased exposure to air pollution and some certain hereditary risk factors are highly at risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Exactly how fine particles and other types of pollutants interact with the genes to increase the risk is still unidentified, but studies from several countries have clearly suggested that air pollution may trigger the symptoms of cognitive impairment, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.

What is air pollution?

Air pollution is made up of several different components including gases, chemical compounds, metals and tiny particles known as particulate matter. Long term exposure or exposure to high levels of air pollution can be hazardous, leading to health conditions that affect the lungs and heart. Most research has focused on a component of air pollution known as fine particulate matter or PM 2.5 – tiny particles that are 40 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

Improving Air Quality May Reduce the Risks of Alzheimer’s Disease:

While scientific studies have concluded that improvement in indoor air quality is associated with better respiratory health and longer life expectancy, it’s unknown if improved air quality can certainly lead to good brain health. To explore this further, Xinhui Wang, Ph.D., assistant professor of research neurology at University of Southern California, and team studied whether older people with the low exposure to air pollution may be less likely to develop symptoms of cognitive impairment.

The researchers examined some people (aged 75-92) in the U.S. who had no sign of Alzheimer’s at the time when the study was initiated. The contributors were followed for 10 years from 2008-2018 and a comprehensive cognitive function assessment was performed on every participant every year to check if they developed any symptom of cognitive impairment.

The researchers found that those living in locations with the lowest concentration of both PM2.5 and NO2 (traffic-related pollutants), their chances to develop the risk reduced by 14% and 26%.

The benefits were seen regardless of age, and whether they had cardiovascular or any other diseases.

Another published in JAMA Neurology in May 2021 examined a group of 78,830 people (aged more than 40 years) living in a metropolitan city. The researchers concluded that the increased exposure to nitrogen dioxide was found to have 40 percent more chances of increasing the risk of Parkinson’s disease.

An Avoidable Risk:

Experts have suggested some effective measures to cope with the risks of air pollution. Some of them are mentioned as below:

• Antioxidant supplements such as vitamins C and E can help your body fight against oxidative stress caused by PM2.5 and other pollutants.
• Exposure to toxic contaminants in the air can be eased by using unsaturated fatty acids (olive oil and fish oil).
• Dietary Vitamin B can be another effective option to reduce the gene methylation in mitochondria caused by PM2.5.

Apart from these things, using a top-quality air purification system in homes, offices, and closed facilities can reduce the concentration of harmful pollutants and its impact on the brain health. Since researchers are still finding better intervention methods to treat mental health caused by pollution and ways to minimize them, PetriMed CA air purification system can be an effective precautionary strategy to filter out contaminants, toxic gases, organic compounds, PM2.5, pollens, and others.

PetriMed CA introduces a scientific solution to the increasing level of indoor air pollution. Engineered with a medical-grade HEPA H14, pre-activated carbon filter, UVC, and ioniser, the air purification system is efficient to capture 99.999% of harmful pollutants—which an ordinary air purifier can hardly do.