A study evidence that pollution ages the brain

An international study published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity make something worrying clear: live exposed for years to Atmospheric pollutants, like him nitrogen dioxide (No2) and the suspended particles (PM10 and PM2.5), not only does the body harm, but also Broken mental processingworsens the memory and leaves a mark on the brain structure When people reach old age.

The work followed the British cohort born in 1946 (the call NSHD), a group that researchers, among them Jorge Arias de la Torre (Professor and inventor at ULE and King’s College), have monitored for decades. The exposure to pollutants in the Medium age (45–64 years) and then, when those participants had between 69 and 71 yearsthey evaluated their cognitive performance (memory and processing speed) and made them Magnetic resonances To see brain anatomy.

With environmental data combined with Neuroimagingthe team sought if long -term pollution translates into a worse brain over the years. And the findings are not trivial.

Conclusions

The results suggest that more exposure to nitrogen dioxide already suspended particles In the middle age it is associated with a Slower mental processing and with a cognitive deterioration In the long term. In addition, high levels of Nitrogen oxides They linked to a Hippocampus volume reductionand pollution (NO2 and particles) was associated with a increased brain ventricles, two signs that usually appear when there is brain atrophy.