On 13 August, an international team of researchers published an article on a systematic review on the relationship between air pollution and dementia in the Journal of Alzheimer’s disease. The team found 13 published research articles that met their inclusion criteria. This brought together findings from the USA, Canada, Taiwan, Sweden and the United Kingdom. They then focused on the reports of the pollutants: particulate matter ≤2.5 μ (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitrous oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone. In addition, they looked at reports of models that aimed to see whether there could be an association between exposure to air pollution and a greater risk of developing dementia.
In their publication, the researchers explain that they found a great variation in how the different studies approached their research questions, underlining that some of the models were rather simple and others opted for more refined approaches. Brining all of the studies together, the scientists reported that for all of the selected air pollutants (PM2.5, NO2, NOX & CO), there were correlations between a higher exposure and an increased risk of dementia. The team, however, qualified their findings by explaining that it is also possible that other factors, such as socioeconomic status, could play a role.
https://content.iospress.com/openurl?genre=article&id=doi:10.3233/JAD-180631