The Polluted Heart

It is very easy, when creating environmental awareness to concentrate too much attention on phenomena such as global warming. That is not to say that global warming isn’t an important part of environmental awareness, but it is only a part. 

Air pollution is thought to be a  contributory cause of lung disorders such as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema. In the United States alone it is the cause of death for 100,000 people a year, who have been diagnosed with these diseases  

However according to surprising new evidence, exposure to air pollution appears to affect the heart as well as the lungs and can, even at low levels increase the risk of a fatal heart attack or stroke (N Engl J Med, 2007; 356: 447-58) The study stated that “the magnitude of health effects may be larger then previously recognized" 

It is uncertain how air pollution increases the risk of heart disease but it is thought that inhaling the particles causes oxidative stress, leading to dysfunction of the autonomic system, which regulates heart rate and blood pressure, It also causes vessel damage and atherosclerosis.

With evidence such as this, how can the skeptics refute it. They may have their doubts about global warming, but hopefully they will take the risk to our health seriously and help us to promote our desire for a cleaner environment.