RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Feb. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers said long-term exposure to air pollution may lead to atherosclerosis, in which fatty deposits cause artery walls to thicken and harden.
Researchers writing in the February issue of Environmental Health Perspectives said the finding adds to the growing body of evidence linking air pollution with cardiovascular disease and provides the first study linking atherosclerosis with exposure to fine particulate matter.
They evaluated 798 healthy Los Angeles-area men and women over age 40 who showed some signs of increased risk of cardiovascular disease. They used data from 23 monitoring stations to estimate annual average concentrations of particulate matter in residential zip codes throughout the Los Angeles area.
The more polluted the air to which subjects were exposed, the researchers found, the thicker the inner layers of their carotid artery, which transports blood to the head and neck.
The most-exposed study participants experienced about 8 percent more artery thickening than the least-exposed participants. The researchers said they adjusted the data to account for diet, use of vitamin supplements and hormone-replacement drugs, physical activity, blood pressure, education and income.
Women over the age of 60 experienced artery thickening at a rate almost four times higher than the overall population. In general, women were much more vulnerable than men, and nonsmokers and people taking drugs to reduce cholesterol also proved to be more vulnerable than average.
