Polluted air can reduce cognitive abilities
Source: https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/polluted-air-cognitive-ability-03022022/
Author: Mihai Andrei
Exposure to pollution has been linked to a number of major health problems, including cardiovascular disease and lung disease. It’s also been linked to dementia before, and some studies have even found that it can even impair cognitive ability. When it comes to other conditions, pollution is a modifiable risk. When the pollution is eliminated, the risk also drops, but for dementia, this hadn’t yet been demonstrated. So a team of researchers led by Diana Younan, of the University of Southern California, carried out a study on 2,232 older women who were free of dementia when they entered the study. The researchers then followed the women for 20 years, giving them two different cognitive tests every year. They also analyzed local changes in air quality for all of the women and used statistical analysis to see if a reduction in air pollution was associated with slower cognitive decline.