Study finds short-term exposure to air pollution may impede cognition; NSAIDs could help
Exposure to air pollution, even over the course of just a few weeks, can impede mental performance, according to a new study led by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. However, these adverse effects were lessened in people taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin.
The study is among the first to explore short-term air pollution exposures and the use of NSAIDs to mitigate their effects. The results are published in the journal
Nature Aging.
Examples of events that would increase someone’s exposure to air pollution over the short term could include forest fires, smog, second-hand cigarette smoke, charcoal grills, and gridlock traffic.
Columbia University researchers showed short-term exposure to fine particulate matter and black carbon in ambient air can reduce GCF (Global Cognitive Function) and MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination) scores in older men. The investigators also showed that aspirin and other NSAIDs may have a protective role against the effects of air pollution.
Short-term exposure to air pollution may impede cognition, Aspirin could help: Study ANI | Updated: May 04, 2021 08:18 IST
Washington [US], May 4 (ANI): Exposure to air pollution, even over the course of just a few weeks, can impede mental performance; however, these adverse effects were lessened in people taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin, according to a new study led by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
The study is published in the journal Nature Aging and it is among the first to explore short-term air pollution exposures and the use of NSAIDs to mitigate their effects.
Examples of events that would increase someone s exposure to air pollution over the short term could include forest fires, smog, second-hand cigarette smoke, charcoal grills, and gridlock traffic.
Exposure to air pollution, even over the course of just a few weeks, can impede mental performance, according to a new study led by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
May 3, 2021
Nature Aging, looks at short-term air pollution, cognitive performance and use of
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Prof Kevin McConway, Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics, The Open University, said:
“This new piece of research raises some interesting questions, but some aspects of the way it was conducted mean that there’s a lot it can’t answer. Many studies of possible harmful effects of air pollution have looked at long-term measures of air pollutants at the places where people live, and investigated how they might be related to aspects of health. But there have also been concerns about shorter-term effects of peaks in air pollution. There have been previous studies that found associations between high long-term pollutant levels, particularly of very fine particles in the air, and problems with cognitive function – that is, how well thinking and memory are working. But there seems not to have been much study of associations betw