Study: US Counties With Higher PM2.5 Levels Suffer More Deaths From Stroke

In a national study, counties with higher particle concentrations_2.5 According to preliminary research presented in Honolulu at the American Stroke Association's 2019 International Stroke Conference, a world-leading meeting for researchers and clinicians dedicated to the science and treatment of cerebrovascular disease.

Analyzing health data and pollution monitoring information from 1,561 counties in the United States between 2005 and 2010, the researchers found that the average annual fine air pollution ranged from 7.2 to 14.7 (average 11.75) micrograms per cubic meter.

Overall, the annual average was at a level considered acceptable. However, 51% of counties had an annual average exceeding 12 micrograms per cubic meter, the average annual limit of national air quality standards for particulates._2.5 prepared by the Environmental Protection Agency (December 2012).

-Longjian Liu, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study and badociate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

When researchers examined badociations between county average MPs_2.5 levels of pollution and sanitary measures (age-adjusted rates for adults 35 years and older), they found:

• The more dirty the air, the higher the death rate from stroke and the shorter life expectancy in men and women.

• The higher the poverty rate and the number of health care providers are raised in a county, the greater the impact of high pollution on health.

• The most important impact on stroke has occurred in the south. The new findings raise the possibility that exposure to particles_2.5 pollution may be a factor in the creation of the "Stroke Belt" in the southern United States. Poverty, diet, smoking, controlling risk factors for stroke and the availability of health services are other possible factors for excessive stroke rates in these states.

To reduce the risk of stroke, clinicians should consider the likely exposure of their patients to air pollution, as well as other risk factors. They may ask patients if they live or work in an urban industrial area or if they know of sources of pollution close to their home or place of work. Clinicians can then encourage at-risk patients to take steps to reduce their exposure where possible, for example by avoiding highways during rush hours, keeping the car windows closed and turning the air conditioner on. circulation.

-Longjian Liu

Researchers are currently badyzing other results from county comparisons, including badociations between higher levels of particles._2.5 pollution and a greater risk of other leading causes of death, including coronary heart disease, heart failure and cancer.

The study did not have separate information on the number of strokes and bleeding caused by the clot.