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Pollution Woes Air pollution increases risk of Stroke
21/Sep/2006: Scientists in Japan have found that high pollution levels in air can make people more susceptible to stroke and the risk doubles with every hour. Till now only daily averages of air pollution levels were linked with cardio vascular and breathing problems but this study has added a new dimension to this belief by showing that the risk of stroke from pollution varies by the hour.
The findings of this study were published ahead of print in ‘Occupational and Environmental Medicine’. Scientists involved in this study collected data on stroke deaths in people aged 65 years and older, between the period January 1990 to December 1994 in 13 cities. This was compared with the data on levels of air pollutants like nitrogen oxide, suspended particulate matter and petrochemical oxidants recorded at different sites. The comparison showed that the level of pollutants in the air was very high two hours before people (whose deaths were analyzed in this study) died of ‘Intracerebral Haemorrhage’ – a type of stroke common during warmer months between April and September, where a blood vessel bursts inside the brain causing stroke.
However no such relation between pollution levels and stroke was established in the case of people who died from ‘Ischemic Stroke’, where blood supply to the brain is affected due to blockages in arteries caused by fat deposits. People suffering from ‘Coronary Heart diseases’ are more susceptible to ischemic stroke.
Inhaling pollutants in the air can increase blood pressure in some patients and hypertension increases the risk of intracerebral haemorrhage, as earlier studies have proven that untreated hypertensive patients suffered cerebral haemorrhage more often than other types of strokes and blood pressure is strongly associated with heamorrhagic stroke. Pollutants in the air can easily mix with the blood, when inhaled and can stay in the blood for an hour.
The findings of the study suggests that preventive measures should be based on hourly averages of air pollution levels and hospitals should be prepared deal with intracerebral haemorrhage cases when the pollution levels are at peak during the day. Hypertensive patients should be advised to stay indoors during the hours when the pollutants in the air are high, to reduce the risk of stroke.
Kesavan Siva
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