Imagine being surrounded by minute, toxic particles that can infiltrate your brain. You are right we’re talking about air pollution. The risk of air pollution to human health is well-known and significant, and strong evidence links it to diseases like respiratory and cardiovascular problems. Around the world, air pollution causes 11.65% of deaths. The WHO estimates that air pollution is rising, with nine out of ten people breathing polluted air globally.
Not surprisingly, this invisible foe is not just interfering with our lungs—he’s also affecting our minds! Teng Yang, Jiawei Wang, Frank J. Kelly, Guoxing Li. and Jing Huang conducted a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry. According to this study, there is a connection between UK residents’ mental health and ambient air pollution. It provides information about the potential impact of long-term air pollution. So, let’s dive in and understand this correlation better.
How Can Something In The Air Affect Your Brain?
This has been a topic of great interest for researchers. Many studies have associated higher levels of anxiety and depression with brief exposure to air pollution. There is conflicting evidence regarding long-term effects. Only a few researchers have looked at how air pollution affects depression and anxiety.
To bridge this gap, Teng Yang and colleagues investigated the relationship between long-term air pollution exposure and anxiety/depression using data from the UK Biobank. Gathered information on sociodemographics, lifestyle, and health. Yang et al confirmed their hypothesis by finding that both short- and long-term exposure to air pollutants, as well as cumulative exposure, increased the risk of developing anxiety and depression. Two single-city studies carried out in China and Korea aligned with the study’s findings. It has its own limitation but it does give us some beneficial information as well.
Yang and colleagues come to the conclusion that better air pollution restrictions and regulations are necessary and that lowering exposure to air pollutants may lessen the burden of mental diseases. More research is required to fully understand the processes underlying this link.
What Does This Imply?
Past studies have shown that:
- Air pollution has been linked to an increase in stress, psychological distress. A higher risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s, and depression.
- Other studies have found that individuals with severe mental illnesses had a higher chance of death when exposed for a brief period of time to air pollution peaks.
- Certain air pollutants, particularly PM and nitric oxides, are linked to poor mental health, as evidenced by prior research.
- People who breathe polluted air have alterations in the emotional control centres of their brains, which increases their risk of developing anxiety and depression compared to people who breathe clean air.
These studies and the new one provides significant new information about the harmful impact of air pollution on mental health. Governments, policymakers, and environmental organizations can use this research to tighten laws and implement practical plans to reduce air pollution and protect mental health.
The risk of air pollution to human health is well-known and significant, and strong evidence links it to diseases like respiratory and cardiovascular problems. Not surprisingly, this invisible foe is not just interfering with our lungs—he’s also affecting our minds!