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By: The Opinion Updated 25 Nov 2022, 0: 25 am EST
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that each year exposure to pollution
from the air causes 7 million premature deaths and a recent study suggests that polluting particles in the air could cause sudden heart attacks .
Data from almost a decade collected by a study carried out in Singapore suggest that the increase in tiny concentrations of particles
in the air can trigger cardiac arrests.
Researchers at the Duke-NUS Medical School searched for particles at least 60 times smaller than the width of a human hair, known as PM2.5 particles
(2.5 micrometers in diameter).
According to is explained in the research published in the journal The Lancet Public Health
, the levels of contamination in Singapore were tracked against more than 25 thousand reported cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) between July 2018 and December 2022.
Statistical analysis identified
492 of the 11 thousand 131 OHCA events that researchers could be attributed to an increase in concentrations of PM2.5, either on the day of the stoppage or up to two days before.
The study also identified a clear reduction in risk
three to five days after exposure to the contaminant, suggesting a relatively large effect. short-term.
“We have provided clear evidence of a short-term association of PM2 .5 with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which is a catastrophic event that often leads to sudden death,” said Associate Professor Joel Aik, principal investigator of the study from Prehospital and Emergency Research Center (PERC) of Duke-NUS.
This study followed a methodology similar to that used in the studies referenced by the WHO
to establish guidelines on air quality. They call to reduce environmental pollution to improve health
The professor also considered that the results of this study highlight the urgent need to reduce pollution levels to reduce health problems, including heart attacks.
“These results The results show that the efforts to reduce the levels of pollutant particles in the air in the range of 2.5 micrograms or less, and the
protection measures against exposure to these particles, could contribute to reducing sudden cardiac arrests in the population of Singapore, while reducing the burden on health services,” he said. Dr.Aik
He highlighted the importance of this research for many cities in the world in which air pollution is a daily problem.
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