A new study revealed that air pollution, which many cities around the world suffer from, has very serious effects on heart health, including irregular heartbeats and heart attacks.
The results of the study indicated that the effects of air pollution on heart health appear in an increased risk of heart attack as a direct result of irregular heart rhythms, known medically as arrhythmias, according to what was reported by the Canadian Medical Association website.
An arrhythmia occurs because of a problem with the electrical signals that regulate the heartbeat. The electrical signals come from a group of cells in the heart called the sinus node. In the case of an arrhythmia, these signals become irregular.
The study of the relationship between air pollution and heart disease included 322 Chinese cities, and pointed out that the polluted air in those cities contains various harmful particles, including particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, and nitrogen dioxide, which can penetrate the lung and enter the bloodstream.
The spread of these substances in the air is attributed to inflammation, oxidative stress and damage to the inner lining of blood vessels, which may lead to hardening of the arteries, and cause increased blood pressure, thus increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Prolonged exposure to polluted air increases the risk of heart failure, arrhythmias and sudden death, and causes common injuries such as atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter, which can develop into more serious heart diseases, which affect about 59.7 million people worldwide.
It is noteworthy that a previous scientific study concluded that air pollution can cause lung cancer, by “awakening” sleeping cells.
She pointed out that inhaling toxic air, resulting from car and bus exhausts, for only 3 years, is enough for silent mutant cells to interact and lead to lung cancer.
In the study published in the scientific journal “Nature”, scientists examined the data of more than 400,000 people from the United Kingdom, South Korea and Taiwan, and their focus was on a type of lung cancer caused by a mutation in the “EGFR” gene, which mainly affects non-smokers or people. who do not smoke a lot.
Read Today's News TODAY... on our Telegram Channel click here to join and receive all the latest updates t.me/thetimeskuwait
