United States: Breathing in smoggy air for a long time can increase the risk of dangerous blood clots, according to new research. The study, led by Pamela Lutsey, found that common air pollutants can raise the chances of serious blood clotting problems.
Writing on Twitter about the study, Lutsey, a professor of public health at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis said: “It makes sense that air pollution has health impacts beyond lung diseases and influences risks of blood clots in apparently healthy people not known to have previous respiratory problems.”
This included data on the health of more that 6,600 residents in communities across the United States of America.
As reported by the HealthDay, participants were tracked for 17 years and data was also obtained on each person’s daily exposure to four major forms of air pollution: example, particulate matter, particulate matter 2.5, nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxides and ozone.
The high levels of fine particulate matter which the patients were chronically exposed to increased their clot risk by 43% within the duration of the study.
Understanding that fusing particulate matter is often produced by major polluting events such as forest fires, the researchers noted.
Another component of airborne pollution was also associated with a near tripling of the odds of a blood clot in participants in the study by Lutsey et al., Moreover, the concentration of nitrogen oxides elevated the risk of blood clot formation by 2.3 times.
The relationship between these various ozone exposures and clotting risk was entirely absent among the two classes of exposures.
Blood clots can cause strokes and something referred to as venous thromboembolisms (VTEs). VTEs can be DVT, clots in veins, usually in the lower extremities, or pulmonary embolisms which are clots that move to the lungs.
In Lutsey’s opinion, the new data show that health practitioners are right to urge strengthening of the current rules to control air quality in the U.S.