Nicholas Bakalar writes for the New York Times on a new study that finds a link between the air you breathe and your mental health. Polluted air, even in small doses, can affect your mental acuity. It speeds up the aging of your brain.
Living in areas where the air is polluted for any amount of time is bad for your health. Over the long-term, it not only can affect your mental functioning, it can increase your chances of getting dementia.
The study looked at the effects of short-term exposure to air pollution on older adults. It tested their ability to answer very simple questions, such as the current year and season when air levels of PM 2.5, soot particles, averaged 10.77. The Environmental Protection Agency considers that level acceptable.
Although the researchers conducted an observational study and not a study that can find a causal link between air pollution and mental acuity, their findings were striking. Small increases in the PM 2.5 air levels resulted in people, whose average age was 69, performing less well on the simple test.
The lead author believes that the effects of air pollution on people’s mental functioning could be reversible. In effect, when an older person moves from an environment with more polluted air to an environment with less polluted air, the person’s brain gets reset at normal functioning. But, long-term exposure to air pollution can cause permanent brain damage.
It’s worth noting that some air pollutants are always in the air. There are pollutants in soil, pollen and sea salt. But, other air pollutants that are man-made are far more toxic. New technology could remove a lot of the most harmful toxins in the air and make it cleaner.
N.B. The researchers also found that participants on aspirin and NSAIDs were less affected by air pollution. And, living a healthy lifestyle–exercise and a healthy diet–always helps your mind and body.
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