Wildfire Smoke — Hard on the Lungs & Even Harder on Your Brain

We all hate this time of year. The skies are packed with smoke from wildfires all over the West. The smoke pollution is hard on the lungs and hard on the eyes, and — now — researchers from the universities of Washington and Pennsylvania say, all that smoke is also hard on the brain.

That tidbit came from a report filed at the annual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. The study looks at the fine particulate from wildfire smoke called PM2.5. It is 30 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair and is very dangerous to the health of all of us.

We all know that particulate from air pollution can cause lung disease and heart problems. The PM2.5 is inhaled deep in the lungs and then enters the bloodstream. The study contends that pollution combined the PM2.5 in smoke might be linked to dementia as well.

To prove their theory that this particulate might cause dementia, researchers looked at the health records of 1.2 million older Southern California residents. The parameter was a decade between 2009 and 2019.

They also looked at air quality monitoring data and other data and looked at a three-year period with each person to see how much exposure these older individuals had to PM2.5. The study concluded the odds of a dementia diagnosis jumped about 21% for every microgram of the particulate ingested.

Researchers it compares with a 3% increase in risk for every three micrograms rise in non-wildfire particles. No one is quite sure why the big difference but Maria Carillo, the chief science officer for the Alzheimer’s Association, said more study needs to be done.

This is especially true with the ever-growing number of wildfires we’re seeing these days. Carillo said Alzheimer’s is higher in lower-income populations because they may have a more difficult time avoiding unhealthy air with or without wildfire smoke.

People are warned to stay inside when there is a high pollution alert, or wildfire smoke but “there are a lot of people who don’t have the option to stay home or they work outside,” she said.

Source link: Insurance Journal — https://bit.ly/4dnhLTk