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Urban air provokes diseases of the cardiovascular system
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Air pollution contributes to the development of heart attacks and strokes, as science has long proven. But now, Israeli scientists have found that bad air is also the cause of recurrence of cardiovascular disease in the long term. It is not necessary to be proud of an apartment in the very center, for health it is more useful a cottage in the forest. Dr. Jariv Gerber from the University of Tel Aviv argues that if cardiac patients live in cities with high levels of smog and other pollutants, they are more than 40% more likely to fall prey to repeated heart attacks than those living in clean air.
"We know that, like tobacco smoke, air pollution by itself activates the inflammatory processes in the body," explains Dr. Gerber, "If we talk about long-term contact with these pollutants, then chronic inflammatory processes are noted.Poor air can be involved in the progression atherosclerosis, which is subsequently reflected in various heart diseases. "
The study involved 1,120 patients who had suffered heart attacks for the first time. All of them were treated in Israeli hospitals between 1992 and 1993. Participants in the study were less than 65 years old at the time of primary hospitalization. Scientists observed them for 19 years until 2011.
It turned out that residents of urban centers with a high level of smog and victims of other permanent air pollutants 43% more often suffered heart attacks repeatedly or experienced congestive heart failure. The risk of re-infarction in their case increased by 46%.