"Exposure to the airborne particles causes proteins in the brain to misfold into the clumps, which are hallmarks of Lewy body dementia, the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's disease. The finding has profound implications for preventing the neurodegenerative disorder, which affects millions worldwide, with scientists calling for a concerted effort to improve air quality by cutting emissions from industrial activity and vehicle exhausts, improving wildfire management and reducing wood burning in homes."
"Armed with the patients' zip codes, the scientists estimated their long-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution, airborne particles that are smaller than 2.5 thousandths of a millimetre. These can be inhaled deep into the lungs and are found in the bloodstream, brain and other organs. They found that long-term exposure to PM2.5 raised the risk of Lewy body dementia, but had less of an impact on rates of another neurodegenerative brain disease that is not driven by the toxic proteins."
Fine-particulate air pollution (PM2.5) can trigger misfolding of the brain protein alpha-synuclein into toxic Lewy bodies that spread and kill nerve cells. Long-term exposure to PM2.5 correlates with increased risk of Lewy body dementia while having less effect on a different neurodegenerative disease not driven by protein clumps. Analysis used hospital admissions and zip-code–based exposure estimates for tens of millions of US patients and noted PM2.5 presence in bloodstream and brain. Reducing industrial and vehicle emissions, improving wildfire management, and cutting household wood burning are actionable prevention strategies.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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