New Orleans - Researchers who fitted study subjects with "air-pollution vests" to continuously monitor exposure to both indoor and outdoor air pollutants say that people are probably exposed to much higher levels of pollutants than community monitoring stations typically indicate and that this exposure affects both endothelial function and systolic blood pressure.
Robert Bard
Dr Robert Brook (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) and colleagues presented a poster with the results of their Detroit Exposure and Aerosol Research Study (DEARS) during the American Heart Association (AHA) 2008 Scientific Sessions. In an interview with heartwire, study coauthor Robert Bard said that the results should serve as a reminder to cardiologists, who tend to forget the extent to which air pollution can harm the heart.
"Cardiologists are really not aware of this as a risk factor," Bard said, despite a 2004 AHA scientific statement warning about the cardiovascular risks of air pollution. What's needed, Bard said, is "a greater awareness that air pollution is contributing to CVD."
"Air pollution is actually noted as the 13th leading cause of death worldwide," Bard reminded heartwire. "We already knew that air pollution is associated with adverse cardiovascular events, including increases in blood pressure, but the novel aspect here is that we were measuring pollution that people were directly exposed to and evaluating cardiovascular function. We found that the average person in our study had increased blood pressure and reduced endothelial function from the air they were exposed to in the previous 24 hours. And importantly, these results were shown despite levels of ambient air pollution that were at or below those recommended in the current EPA guidelines."/.../
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