Post-Menopausal Woman & Air Pollution: Cardiovascular Events Increase

Los Angeles Smog Unhealthy To Breathe!

The Washington University researchers who linked hormone replacement to breast cancer, have linked air pollution to cardiovascular events in post-menopausal women.

The University of Washington Study was published February 1, 2007 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Personally, as I reach post-menopausal years, I’m concerned as you should be if you or a loved one breathes air pollution, that exposure will bring much worse than a headache.

The study said that women living in areas with higher levels of air pollution have a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease and subsequently dying from cardiovascular causes. The study was one of the largest of its kind, involving more than 65,000 Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study participants, age 50 to 79, living in 36 cities across the United States.

Healthy women ages 50-79 in 36 cities were studied over 9 years.

They linked their health information with the average outdoor air pollution levels near each woman’s home, and found that higher pollution levels posed a significant hazard, much higher than previously thought for development of cardiovascular disease.

The researchers studied levels of fine particulate matter, which are tiny airborne particles of soot or dust, and can come from vehicle exhaust, coal-fired power plants, industry, and wood-burning fireplaces. These particles are less than 2.5 microns in diameter — about 40 of them equal the diameter of a human hair. They are the “biggest” element of air pollution contributing to premature heart-attacks and strokes.

Los Angeles County has the worst levels of fine particulate matter in the United States due to truck traffic and the geography of the area that traps particulates in a basin.

To read more about study Women in Polluted Areas At Higher Risk for Cardiovascular Disease, click here.

To read study about Soot in Air Causes Heart Attack Risk, click here.