Researchers have found new evidence on the link between polluted air and the risk of heart attack, a conference will hear at the weekend.
Dr Insa de Buhr-Stockburger, a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Heart Attack Register based in Berlin, Germany, and colleagues looked at risks from nitric oxide, particulate matter with a diameter less than 10µm, which can cause adverse health effects.
They used figures on 17,873 patients with heart attack whose daily pollution exposure was estimated from city registries in Berlin. Information was also analysed on the local sunshine duration, minimum and maximum temperature, and rainfall.
The researchers explain that nitric oxide is created by combustion at high temperatures, particular from diesel vehicles.
Analysis showed that heart attacks were significantly more likely on days with high nitric oxide concentrations – a 1% higher rate for every rise of 10 µg/m3. Heart attacks were also more common after a high average PM10 concentration in the three previous days – a 4% higher incidence for every 10 µg/m3 rise.
However, estimates suggested that for smokers, the risk of heart attack was unaffected by nitric oxide or PM10 concentrations.
The research will be presented at ESC Congress 2022, the European Society of Cardiology’s meeting, held from 26 to 29 August in Barcelona, Spain, and online.
Dr de Buhr-Stockburger commented: “The correlation between air pollution and heart attacks in our study was absent in smokers.
"This may indicate that bad air can actually cause heart attacks since smokers, who are continuously self-intoxicating with air pollutants, seem less affected by additional external pollutants.”
She added: "It is plausible that air pollution is a contributing cause of myocardial infarction, given that nitric oxide and PM10 promote inflammation, atherosclerosis is partly caused by inflammatory processes, and no associations were found in smokers.”
The abstract “Association of air pollutants, weather variables, and myocardial infarction incidence in Berlin. A study of the Berlin Brandenburg Myocardial Infarction Registry (B2HIR) based on 17873 cases” will be presented on Saturday 27 August 2022.
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