Air pollution associated with increased risk of stroke, anxiety

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to two studies published in The British Medical Journal today, researchers have found that air pollution is linked to a higher risk of stroke and anxiety.

In the first study, researchers from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland performed a systematic review and meta analysis to evaluate the association between short term air pollution exposure and hospital admission and deaths related to stroke in 28 countries.

Results showed that there was an association between carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide and stroke-related hospital admissions or death.

Particularly, the first day of air pollution exposure and low- to middle-income countries were found to have the strongest association.

The second study conducted by researchers at the John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, investigated the association between air pollution and anxiety. Results of that study showed 15% of the 71,271 women aged 57 to 85 years studied experienced high anxiety symptoms. 

Researchers found that women who lives 50 to 200 meters from a major road were more likely to have higher anxiety symptoms compared with those who lived greater than 200 meters away. Researchers did not observe an association in those living within 50 meters of a major road.