Heavy Traffic = Heavy Calcification
A new and recent study from Germany has shown, for the first time that living near very busy roads is associated with coronary atherosclerosis. This is published in the journal Circulation.
The study purports to show a relationship between particulate matter and the proximity to roads in relation to cardiovascular events.
The study of 4494 adults, age 45 to 74 years, is part of the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study that is being conducted in three large, adjacent cities in the industrialized Ruhr area of Germany. Home address was used to estimate each person's exposure to urban air pollution. Participants were interviewed about risk factors such as diabetes and smoking underwent extensive clinical examinations, and had their coronary artery calcification (CAC) measured by electron-beam computed tomography (EBCT).
The researchers found that the closer the participant lived to heavy traffic, the higher the CAC.
The fact that they showed a positive exposure-response relationship for increasing traffic exposure that persisted even after multivariable adjustment "strengthens our findings," the researchers say.
The study was adjusted for city, area of residence, age, sex, education, smoking, environmental tobacco smoke, physical inactivity, waist-to-hip ratio, diabetes, blood pressure, and lipids. They did not mention significant family history which would be very important.
Hoffman and colleagues said their results concur with those from a recent study conducted in Los Angeles, which showed an increase in carotid artery thickness in patients exposed to similar particulate matter.
Whether information like this should be incorporated into planning and zoning regulations remains up in the air.
The study purports to show a relationship between particulate matter and the proximity to roads in relation to cardiovascular events.
The study of 4494 adults, age 45 to 74 years, is part of the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study that is being conducted in three large, adjacent cities in the industrialized Ruhr area of Germany. Home address was used to estimate each person's exposure to urban air pollution. Participants were interviewed about risk factors such as diabetes and smoking underwent extensive clinical examinations, and had their coronary artery calcification (CAC) measured by electron-beam computed tomography (EBCT).
The researchers found that the closer the participant lived to heavy traffic, the higher the CAC.
The fact that they showed a positive exposure-response relationship for increasing traffic exposure that persisted even after multivariable adjustment "strengthens our findings," the researchers say.
The study was adjusted for city, area of residence, age, sex, education, smoking, environmental tobacco smoke, physical inactivity, waist-to-hip ratio, diabetes, blood pressure, and lipids. They did not mention significant family history which would be very important.
Hoffman and colleagues said their results concur with those from a recent study conducted in Los Angeles, which showed an increase in carotid artery thickness in patients exposed to similar particulate matter.
Whether information like this should be incorporated into planning and zoning regulations remains up in the air.
Labels: heart disease, traffic
posted by Anonymous at 6:08 AM
1 Comments:
I'm glad to see studies like this.
It's always interested me that, on the whole, we take negative individual behaviors like smoking and overeating so seriously but very rarely ever consider how generally accepted, collective behavior is often just as damaging, if not more so.
Critically considering things like the transportation and food production systems that we all utilize negates one's ability to blame problems on others. Better regulating those behaviors, though, would have a much larger impact on the overall health and sustainability of our communities than do many of the individually-aimed efforts.
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