Atmospheric pollution related to mental disorders, including depression

Exposure to air pollution could increase the risk of developing mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and major depression, the researchers said.

A series of factors are supposed to contribute to the development of a mental illness in a person, explained the authors of the paper published in the newspaper. PLOS Biology. These factors include genetics, neurochemistry and l & # 39; environment.

To investigate the possible link between air pollution and mental disorders, the international team of researchers examined a database of 151,104,811 insurance claims in the United States, collected between 2003 and 2003. 2013. It also reviewed the Danish national registers on treatment and pollution. of 1,436,702 persons born between January 1, 1979 and December 31, 2002.

Bipolar disorder and major depression were related to air pollution in the United States and Denmark. In Denmark, air pollution was linked to depression, schizophrenia and personality disorders.

Danish data also suggested that being exposed to poor air quality in the early years increased the risk of developing bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorder and major depression.

Co-author Andrey Rzhetsky, professor of medicine and human genetics at the University of Chicago, said Newsweek: "To our knowledge, we have provided the first evidence that the most prevalent mental illnesses are related to pollution."

However, Rzhetsky acknowledged that the work was observational and showed a link between air pollution and mental illness, but could not prove that it was a cause. He explained that it would be unethical to conduct the type of randomized trial needed to prove the link.

In an ideal world, argued Rzhetskythose who are vulnerable to such conditions would avoid harmful levels of air pollution.

Asked what worried readers in polluted cities can do, Rzhetsky said: "Living in cleaner areas can not hurt, pollution is linked (by environmental scientists) to many diseases and an increase mortality rate. "

John Ioannidis, professor of medicine and health research and policy at Stanford University, wrote an article in PLOS Biology answer the conclusions. He criticized the report, arguing that the US data did not represent the population and that the air pollution measurements used in each study did not reflect the levels of air pollution to which each person was exposed.

Ioannidis said Newsweek: "I consider this study to be a new avenue of research, the current data must be examined with great care, and nothing has yet been proven about a causal relationship between air pollution and mental illness. observation can not be ignored., it must be deepened and examined with additional data. "

He said Newsweek the link between bipolar disorder appeared to be the strongest and most consistent between the two sets of data. "I do not think I would have thought about distinguishing bipolar disorder in particular before seeing the data, so it's a little surprising, but of course, it could only work." 39 a correlation or fortuitous discovery, not a causal link. " effect."

"This research could have political implications (for example, the regulation of air pollution) and could change the focus of our search for causes of mental health," he said.

"Most mental health research focuses on biology and neuroscience rather than the environment and social / societal factors.

In response to Ioannidis' article, Rzhetsky stated that it was "a field guide for novices in observational studies, who should be aware of the complexities hidden in complex data sets.

Ioannis Bakolis, lecturer in biostatistics at King's College London, who also did not participate in the research, said Newsweek the results add to the data from previous studies linking air pollution and mental disorders.

"Although there is an emerging literature on the link between air pollution and depression, the link with bipolar disorder and personality disorder is new," he said.

"Compared to other countries in the world, Denmark has relatively low pollution levels.This suggests that other countries need to substantially improve the quality of their air so that it is even cleaner. as Denmark to reduce the potential consequences of poor quality of air on mental health "argued.