Air Pollution & Your Memory

Robert Preidt, a HealthDay Reporter, recently submitted information on air pollution and our memory.  Can it really take a toll on the memory?

Alzheimer’s-like brain changes and speed memory decline in older adults may be triggered by air pollution.  They have some previous research that implies exposure to fine particle air pollution can increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.  It was not clear how the brain and memory can be affected by this type of pollution.

In a statistical model the first study shows that air pollution was associated with various changes in our brains and those changes were connected with declines in memory performance, according to researcher Andrew Petkus, assistant professor of clinical neurology at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.

By understanding the underlying brain changes that are caused by air pollution, the researchers will be able to develop interventions to help people with or at risk for cognitive decline.  Nearly 1,000 women aged 73 to 87 were included in the study. They had brain scans five years apart. Researchers also assessed information for where the women lived and their environmental data from those locations in order to estimate their exposure to fine particle pollution.

The conclusion was that women who were exposed to higher levels of fine particle air had more Alzheimer’s-like changes in brain structure and greater decline in memory than those having less exposure to such pollution.  The study did show only an association and could not prove that air pollution caused brain changes or memory declines.

The sixth leading cause of death in the United States is Alzheimer’s and there is no cure or treatment.  Another piece of the Alzheimer’s disease puzzle the study provides is identifying some of the brain changes liking air pollution and memory declines.  We get one step closer to solving the Alzheimer’s disease epidemic with each research study.

The fine particle air pollution is easily inhaled and reaches and accumulates in the brain.  This has been linked with asthma, heart disease, lung disease and premature death. Industrial production, forest fires or vehicles are the cause of these in air particles, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The study findings were published in the journal Brain.

Dr Fredda Branyon