Exposure to low-dose ambient fine particulate matter PM2.5 and Alzheimer's disease, non-Alzheimer's dementia, and Parkinson's disease in North Carolina.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), non-AD dementia, and Parkinson's disease (PD) are increasingly common in older adults, yet all risk factors for their onset are not fully understood. Consequently, environmental exposures, including air pollution, have been hypothesized to contribute to the etiolo...

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Main Authors: Sung Han Rhew, Julia Kravchenko, H Kim Lyerly
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0253253&type=printable
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author Sung Han Rhew
Julia Kravchenko
H Kim Lyerly
author_facet Sung Han Rhew
Julia Kravchenko
H Kim Lyerly
author_sort Sung Han Rhew
collection DOAJ
description Alzheimer's disease (AD), non-AD dementia, and Parkinson's disease (PD) are increasingly common in older adults, yet all risk factors for their onset are not fully understood. Consequently, environmental exposures, including air pollution, have been hypothesized to contribute to the etiology of neurodegeneration. Because persistently elevated rates of AD mortality in the southern Piedmont area of North Carolina (NC) have been documented, we studied mortality and hospital admissions for AD, non-AD dementia, and PD in residential populations aged 65+ with long-term exposures to elevated levels of ambient air particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards (≥10μg/m3). Health data were obtained from the State Center for Health Statistics and the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. PM2.5 levels were obtained from the MODIS/MISR and SeaWiFS datafiles. Residents in the Study group of elevated air particulate matter (87 zip codes with PM2.5≥10μg/m3) were compared to the residents in the Control group with low levels of air particulate matter (81 zip codes with PM2.5≤7.61μg/m3), and were found to have higher age-adjusted rates of mortality and hospital admissions for AD, non-AD dementia, and PD, including a most pronounced increase in AD mortality (323/100,000 vs. 257/100,000, respectively). After adjustment for multiple co-factors, the risk of death (odds ratio, or OR) from AD in the Study group (OR = 1.35, 95%CI[1.24-1.48]) was significantly higher than ORs of non-AD dementia or PD (OR = 0.97, 95%CI[0.90-1.04] and OR = 1.13, 95%CI[0.92-1.31]). The OR of hospital admissions was significantly increased only for AD as a primary case of hospitalization (OR = 1.54, 95%CI[1.31-1.82]). Conclusion: NC residents aged 65+ with long-term exposures to ambient PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO standard had significantly increased risks of death and hospital admissions for AD. The effects for non-AD dementia and PD were less pronounced.
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spelling doaj-art-daa896f2bd484d2a8be3ac48f1bbcf062025-08-20T02:01:06ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-01167e025325310.1371/journal.pone.0253253Exposure to low-dose ambient fine particulate matter PM2.5 and Alzheimer's disease, non-Alzheimer's dementia, and Parkinson's disease in North Carolina.Sung Han RhewJulia KravchenkoH Kim LyerlyAlzheimer's disease (AD), non-AD dementia, and Parkinson's disease (PD) are increasingly common in older adults, yet all risk factors for their onset are not fully understood. Consequently, environmental exposures, including air pollution, have been hypothesized to contribute to the etiology of neurodegeneration. Because persistently elevated rates of AD mortality in the southern Piedmont area of North Carolina (NC) have been documented, we studied mortality and hospital admissions for AD, non-AD dementia, and PD in residential populations aged 65+ with long-term exposures to elevated levels of ambient air particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards (≥10μg/m3). Health data were obtained from the State Center for Health Statistics and the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. PM2.5 levels were obtained from the MODIS/MISR and SeaWiFS datafiles. Residents in the Study group of elevated air particulate matter (87 zip codes with PM2.5≥10μg/m3) were compared to the residents in the Control group with low levels of air particulate matter (81 zip codes with PM2.5≤7.61μg/m3), and were found to have higher age-adjusted rates of mortality and hospital admissions for AD, non-AD dementia, and PD, including a most pronounced increase in AD mortality (323/100,000 vs. 257/100,000, respectively). After adjustment for multiple co-factors, the risk of death (odds ratio, or OR) from AD in the Study group (OR = 1.35, 95%CI[1.24-1.48]) was significantly higher than ORs of non-AD dementia or PD (OR = 0.97, 95%CI[0.90-1.04] and OR = 1.13, 95%CI[0.92-1.31]). The OR of hospital admissions was significantly increased only for AD as a primary case of hospitalization (OR = 1.54, 95%CI[1.31-1.82]). Conclusion: NC residents aged 65+ with long-term exposures to ambient PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO standard had significantly increased risks of death and hospital admissions for AD. The effects for non-AD dementia and PD were less pronounced.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0253253&type=printable
spellingShingle Sung Han Rhew
Julia Kravchenko
H Kim Lyerly
Exposure to low-dose ambient fine particulate matter PM2.5 and Alzheimer's disease, non-Alzheimer's dementia, and Parkinson's disease in North Carolina.
PLoS ONE
title Exposure to low-dose ambient fine particulate matter PM2.5 and Alzheimer's disease, non-Alzheimer's dementia, and Parkinson's disease in North Carolina.
title_full Exposure to low-dose ambient fine particulate matter PM2.5 and Alzheimer's disease, non-Alzheimer's dementia, and Parkinson's disease in North Carolina.
title_fullStr Exposure to low-dose ambient fine particulate matter PM2.5 and Alzheimer's disease, non-Alzheimer's dementia, and Parkinson's disease in North Carolina.
title_full_unstemmed Exposure to low-dose ambient fine particulate matter PM2.5 and Alzheimer's disease, non-Alzheimer's dementia, and Parkinson's disease in North Carolina.
title_short Exposure to low-dose ambient fine particulate matter PM2.5 and Alzheimer's disease, non-Alzheimer's dementia, and Parkinson's disease in North Carolina.
title_sort exposure to low dose ambient fine particulate matter pm2 5 and alzheimer s disease non alzheimer s dementia and parkinson s disease in north carolina
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0253253&type=printable
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