Studies show increased relative risk for admission for composite CVD and increased risk for admission for natural causes<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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MONDAY, Feb. 26, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Chronic and daily exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5<\/sub>) are associated with an increased risk for hospital admission for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and for natural causes, according to two studies published online Feb. 21 in The BMJ<\/em>.<\/p>\n Yaguang Wei, Ph.D., from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues estimated exposure-response associations between chronic exposure to PM2.5<\/sub> and risks for the first hospital admission for major CVD subtypes in a population-based study involving 59,761,494 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 65 years and older. The researchers found that three-year average PM2.5<\/sub> exposure was associated with increased relative risks for first hospital admissions for ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, and thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms. The exposure-response curve showed a monotonically increased risk for composite CVD in association with PM2.5<\/sub>: The relative risk was 1.29 at exposures between 9 and 10 \u00c2\u00b5g\/m3<\/sup> versus \u00e2\u0089\u00a45 \u00c2\u00b5g\/m3<\/sup> (the World Health Organization air quality guideline for annual PM2.5<\/sub> levels).<\/p>\n Yuantong Sun, from the Boston University School of Public Health, and colleagues conducted a case time series study to estimate the excess relative and absolute risks for hospital admissions and emergency department visits associated with daily exposure to PM2.5 <\/sub>below the new WHO air quality guideline limit using data for 50.1 million commercial and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries. The researchers found that an increase of 10 \u00c2\u00b5g\/m3<\/sup> during the current and previous days was associated with an elevated risk for hospital admissions for natural causes on days when daily PM2.5<\/sub> levels were below the new WHO air quality guideline limit of 15 \u00c2\u00b5g\/m3<\/sup> (excess relative risk, 0.91 percent); this increase was exclusively seen in adults aged 65 years and older.<\/p>\n “Our study contributes to the evidence that ambient air pollution is associated with morbidity even at PM2.5<\/sub> levels below the current WHO air quality guideline limit,” Sun and colleagues write.<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text – Wei<\/a><\/p>\n