Three years ago, an international study commissioned by the journal Lancet listed 12 modifiable factors that increased the risk of dementia, including three new ones: excessive alcohol, head injury and air pollution.
Writing in the May 2, 2023 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, a team of researchers, led by scientists at University of California San Diego, further elaborate on how exposure to the last of those new factors — ambient air pollution, such as car exhaust and power plant emissions — is associated with a measurably greater risk of developing dementia over time.
Senior author William S. Kremen, PhD, professor of psychiatry and co-director of the Center for Behavior Genetics of Aging at UC San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues examined baseline cognitive assessments of approximately 1,100 men participating in the ongoing Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging. Average baseline age was 56, with 12 years of follow up.
Read more at: University of California - San Diego
Exposure to ambient air pollution, such as car exhaust, has been linked to a higher risk of developing dementia; genetics can heighten the risk. (Photo Credit: IQAir)