Medical experts are beginning to link Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia to pollution in the air we breathe. Forms of dementia, like Alzheimer’s disease, can affect several aspects of one’s cognitive abilities, such as logical reasoning, memory, and performing necessary daily tasks. Dementia can be the result of infection, stroke, and other medical issues that affect the brain, but it seems that air pollution and the environment can also play a significant role.
Pollution’s Effects on the Brain
A recent published study in Translational Psychiatry found that women, especially, had an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease the more that they were exposed to air pollution. Women who had a particular genetic variant, known as APOE-e4, were about three times as likely to develop the disease or another form of dementia due to pollution exposure.
The study also found a link between pollution and women with the genetic variant as creating a higher probability that those women would at least suffer some cognitive decline. Although their symptoms did not fit the bill for any form of dementia, their reasoning and memory skills were significantly lower than those of women without the gene variant or high pollution exposure.
Another study researched the effects of traffic pollution on Swedish residents. Researchers examined the air quality in which the 1,806 participants lived for a 15-year period. 191 participants had an Alzheimer’s diagnosis by the study’s follow-up, and 111 others had a vascular dementia diagnosis. Those who lived in areas with higher traffic pollution were more likely to receive a diagnosis.
Is It Too Late to Go Green?
As environmental policies grew throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the United States and Europe saw a steady decrease in dementia diagnoses. Researchers have more recently studied the trends in dementia and air pollution throughout the decades to prove the effects of pollution on the brain further. What they’ve found thus far is that an increase in eco-friendly policies and lifestyle changes has been steadily decreasing the incidences of dementia and Alzheimer’s all over the world.
Although creating an eco-friendly environment doesn’t happen overnight, working toward making cleaner, more breathable air may impact the future of those most at-risk for developing Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. Supporting important environmental policies can be the first step towards creating a better outlook for the future of the air we breathe and the toll it takes on the health of the brain.
