Heart Failure From Air Pollution
Coronary Heart Disease & Respiratory COPD University Study
Sep 24, 2009
“Air pollution poses a significant health risk...adverse effects...on the cardiovascular system,” according to an article, dated August 19, 2009, titled “Particulate Air Pollution and Coronary Heart Disease.” The article is published on the PubMed web site. The authors are Simkhovich BZ, Leinman MT, and Kloner Ra.
The air pollution article is from a study by the Heart Institute, Good Samaritan Hospital, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, and the USA Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California-Irvine.
Cardiovascular Heart Rate & High Blood Pressure Link
The dual university air pollution study concluded that even moderate exposures to particulate matter in the air can be linked to “increased morbidity and mortality due to coronary heart disease." The article states that inhaling small particulate pollutants in the air can also cause variability of heart rate and affect the blood vessel cells causing increased “blood pressure and blood coagulability.”
Atherosclerosis & Breathing Problems
Air particle exposure can “accelerate” atherosclerosis and can inflame the air and cardiovascular pathways. Fine particle air pollution causes a decrease in “contractility” of the heart muscles while decreasing the flow of blood to and from the heart and which can cause congestive heart failure, according to the air pollution article.
The air pollution dual university medical study article summary recommends the need for new “pharmacological strategies” to decrease the effects of air pollution during extreme times of “fires, earthquakes, industrial accidents, acts of terrorism.” The summary recommends more public education about the health effects of air pollution, and how to decrease the health risks.
COPD & Cardiovascular Disease Facts
“...four-year medical record study of 11.5 million Medicare enrollees...[concludes] short-term exposure to fine particle air pollution” poses a serious health problem for the elderly, according to an (author unknown) article, by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) titled, “Elderly Have Higher Risk for Cardiovascular, Respiratory Disease From Fine Particle Pollution.”
The article, dated March 8, 2006, is from research by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and was published in the NIH News and on-line at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) web site.
The NIH list of health problems, causing increased hospital admissions of seniors due to exposure to fine particle air pollution, are:
- Cardiovascular disease.
- Heart failure.
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
- Respiratory Infections.
The NIH article quotes the National Institutes of Health Director, Elias A. Zerhouni, M. D. who stated, “...participants over 75 years...experienced even greater increases in [hospital] admissions for heart problems and COPD...than those between 65 and 74 years of age.” This information came from a study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and then published in the March 8, 2006, issue of the “Journal of the American Medical Association.”
The NIH article lists the two major sources of fine particle air pollution as coming from motor vehicle exhausts and power plant emissions, which can cause of coronary heart disease.
People over the age of 65 have increasing hospital admissions caused by fine particle air pollution, according to the National Institutes of Health. The air pollution dual university medical study states that exposure to particle air pollution is related to causes of high blood pressure, and causes of cardiovascular disease.
The dual university study suggests increasing public and business awareness about how to better protect against particle pollution, and that more medical research is needed in order to better treat health problems from air pollution.
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