Research Highlights Association Between Polluted Air and Increased Dementia Risk

(Newswire.net — October 27, 2022) Orlando, FL — As the rates of dementia continue to increase, more and more researchers are also carrying out studies to investigate this condition.

UW-led research has shown that a small increase in the levels of PM2.5 or particulate matter 2.5 micrometers or smaller was linked with a heightened risk of dementia for individuals living at those addresses. 

It is worth noting the small increase averaged over a decade at certain addresses in the Seattle area. Through the use of data from two large, long-running study projects in the Puget Sound region, the University of Washington researchers identified an association between air pollution and dementia.

“We found that an increase of 1 microgram per cubic meter of exposure corresponded to a 16% greater hazard of all-cause dementia. There was a similar association for Alzheimer’s-type dementia,” said lead author Rachel Shaffer.

Shaffer conducted the research as a doctoral student in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences.

“The ACT Study is committed to advancing dementia research by sharing its data and resources, and we’re grateful to the ACT volunteers who have devoted years of their lives to supporting our efforts, including their enthusiastic participation in this important research on air pollution,” said Dr. Eric Larson.

Dr. Larson is ACT’s founding principal investigator and a senior investigator at KPWHRI.

The findings of this interesting research were published in the Environmental Health Perspectives. 

The investigators looked into over 4,000 Seattle-area residents enrolled in the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) Study, which was by Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in collaboration with UW.

Of the residents, the investigators were able to identify over 1,000 individuals who had been diagnosed with dementia at some point since the ACT Study began in 1994.

The rates of dementia continue to increase worldwide and more and more scientists are carrying out studies to investigate it.

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