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Day-to-day spikes in air pollution seem to be followed by an uptick in hospital admissions for heart attack, a new study in Italy finds.
The findings, reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, add to evidence that high-pollution days may trigger heart attacks in some people.
And, like other studies, the new one suggests that the elderly and people with existing heart or lung disease are most vulnerable.
Already, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that people with heart disease and others at risk, including the elderly and people with diabetes or high blood pressure, try to steer clear of congested roadways and spend less time outside on days when air quality is poorer.
Pollutants in the air
The evidence of harm is strongest against fine particulate matter pollutants –those released into the air when wood or fossil fuels are burned. So, car exhaust, home heating, and industrial sources like power plants all contribute.
Because the particles are small enough they can be inhaled deeply into the lungs. Researchers suspect they may trigger heart attacks in vulnerable people by causing inflammation in the blood vessels and irritating the nerves of the lungs.
For the new study, researchers led by Dr Alessandro Barchielli, of the Regional Health Service of Tuscany, looked at data on 11,450 hospitalisations for heart attack between 2002 and 2005.
They used local air-quality monitors to see how those hospitalisations correlated with changes in air pollution levels.
Overall, the study found that for each fine-particle increase of 10 mcg/m3 of air, heart attack hospitalisations inched up 0.01% over the next two days.
Traffic pollutants
There was a similar pattern when the researchers looked at two other traffic pollutants: carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide.
The link between pollution spikes and heart attack was strongest among people age 75 or older, and for those with the lung diseases emphysema or chronic bronchitis, and people with high blood pressure.
The findings alone do not prove that air pollution, itself, triggers heart attacks.
But they do add to other studies that have found a similar association, according to Dr Barchielli's team.
They are also in line with what the AHA and other groups recommend for people vulnerable to heart problems: pay attention to air quality and, whenever possible, limit time outdoors on high-pollution days.
(Reuters Health, June 2011)
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