A study shows that air pollution may increase the chances of people developing dementia.
A study from King's College London stated that people over 50 in areas with the highest levels of nitrogen oxide in the air has a 40 percent greater risk of dementia than those with least or no nitrogen oxide.
The study, published in the MBJ Open Journal on Wednesday, does not say that air pollution was a direct cause for dementia cases but the authors said the link between higher pollution and higher levels of dementia diagnosis could not be explained by other factors. Air pollution has been linked to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases but this is the first time that a study links it with a neurodegenerative illness.
"The study outcome suggests a linkage [between air pollution and dementia] but cannot inform on the cause. However, I believe that we now have sufficient knowledge to add air pollution to the list of risk factors for dementia. Our calculations suggest that it elevates risk by 7%, so [that would suggest] approximately 60,000 of the total 850,000 dementia cases in the UK, in mathematical terms," Frank Kelly, professor of environmental health at King's College London and one of the authors said.
The study adds previous research suggesting a link with dementia and air pollution but scientists warned the results must be taken cautiously because the study, which is an observational type, could not closely track other possible causes like lifestyle, economic deprivation of patients and amount of air pollution to each individual.
