Diesel Exhaust Bad for Your Heart

Reported September 13, 2007

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- You may want to find a new running route if you're near heavy city traffic. Exposure to high levels of air pollution can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, according to results of a new study. This risk is present after just one hour of exposure and is even higher when a person is exercising.

Researchers from the Centre for Cardiovascular Science at Edinburgh University in Scotland were inspired to look at the effects of air pollution on the cardiovascular system because prior studies found, on high pollution days, there are greater numbers of hospital admissions for angina and heart attacks.

The team tested the effects of exposure to diesel exhaust during moderate exercise on men who had suffered a previous heart attack. The pollution levels used in this study were reflective of the curbside levels experienced in heavy traffic in large cities. They found exposure to the exhaust produced cardiovascular effects after 30 minutes of exercise and lasted up to six hours after exercise was complete.
 

However, Nicholas L. Mills, M.D., specialist registrar in cardiology at Edinburgh University in Scotland and author of the study, told Ivanhoe the positive effects of exercise still outweigh the negative effects of exposure to pollution.

"My advice would be that patients should undertake regular exercise as a well-proven way of reducing their cardiovascular risk, but it would be common sense not to exercise in heavy traffic," Dr. Mills said.

Study authors write it is still unclear as to why air pollution causes these effects, but there is an association. Dr. Mills said he believes the chemical particles in the exhaust are behind the negative health effects and that government officials should heed this warning.

"Rather than focusing on patients' risks, we should focus on the real message we think is important. For legislation to reduce particle emissions might be beneficial to public health," Dr. Mills said.


SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Nicholas L. Mills, M.D.; The New England Journal of Medicine, 2007;357:1075-1082