A new study from the University of California, Davis adds to the growing body of evidence demonstrating a link between traffic-related air pollution and an increased risk of age-related dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
"Much of the published animal data so far has been criticized since the exposures utilized have not precisely replicated human exposures,” Dr. Lein stated. This is because the animals were exposed to a subset of the components that make up traffic-related air pollution, and/or because the animals were exposed to extremely high concentrations of traffic-related air pollutants, typically for short periods.”
The researchers experimented on male and female rats for up to 14 months, exposing them to either filtered or contaminated air. They took dirty air from the busy tunnel in real-time and provided it to the animals in its original state.
The researchers discovered that chronic traffic-related air pollution accelerated and aggravated Alzheimer’s disease-related features in rats who were genetically sensitive to the disease. A similar impact was observed in wild-type rats.
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Further evidence that pollution raises the risk of dementia.
by Steven on Medicable