What women with diabetes need to know about air pollution

Thursday, November 26, 2015, 4:51 PM - Air pollution has been linked to a number of health issues, including lung cancer, asthma and premature deaths.

Now, U.S.-based researchers have conducted a nation-wide study on nurses to determine what factors make people more vulnerable to long-term exposure to air pollution.

For their study, researchers looked at information collected from more than 100,000 participants in a nurses' health study. The data was compiled between 1989 and 2006.

It was discovered that women with type 2 diabetes saw an increased risk for developing heart problems following prolonged exposure to air pollution. Researchers deemed the risk "statistically significant" for women with diabetes, while women without diabetes only had a "small" risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

"We didn't expect diabetes to be the strongest factor in determining susceptibility," study lead author Jaime E. Hart, Sc.D., an epidemiologist at the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard Chan School, said in a statement.

"We looked at age, family history of cardiovascular disease, weight, smoking status and region of the country but diabetes was the most consistent across diseases and across different size fractions of particulate matter."

Geography plays a role

The data suggests an increase of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air pollution -- roughly the difference in air quality between Los Angeles, CA and St. Louis, MO -- saw a woman's risk of developing heart disease increase by 44%, provided she had type 2 diabetes.

The risk further increases for women over the age of 70, those who are obese, and those living in the northeast or south, due to higher levels of air pollution in those regions.

"Continuing to identify subgroups that are most susceptible to the effects of air pollution is critically important for setting pollution standards and regulations so that those who are most vulnerable can be protected," Hart said.

"Individuals, especially those who may be at greater risk, can also take precautions to help limit their exposure. And we would always recommend that individuals don't smoke, eat a healthy diet, and get regular exercise to reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease."

Researchers are now working to determine if individuals who practice a healthy lifestyle are less susceptible to risks associated with air pollution.

They are also attempting to determine if similar susceptibility patterns are present in men.

The complete study has been published in Journal of the American Heart Association Report.

Source: Brigham and Women's Hospital