Clean Air, Clean Arteries
Posted by
Nikki F.
A friend of mine is supposed to run the L.A. Marathon with me, but she has reneged on her decision with the excuse that polluted L.A. air will corrode her lungs. While I think she should tough it out and run with me, new research out of UCLA is starting to make me think otherwise.
Apparently, air pollution causes heart attacks, go figure. The diesel exhaust particles that pollute air are coated in chemicals containing free radicals—molecules that cause cell and tissue damage. When those free radicals mix with the free radicals generated by LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, “their combination creates a dangerous synergy that wreaks cardiovascular havoc far beyond what’s caused by the diesel or cholesterol alone,” principal investigator Dr. Andre Nel, chief of nanomedicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, explains.
The havoc? Dr. Jesus Araujo, UCLA assistant professor of medicine and director of environmental cardiology at the Geffen School of Medicine, says that the dirty duo “activate the genes that promote cellular inflammation—a major risk factor for atherosclerosis.” Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) significantly increases one’s risk for heart attack and stroke. Ack.
The UCLA team’s next step is to create a way for physicians to determine whether a person’s exposure to the pollutants has reached levels that require medical intervention.
On the prevention end, greater air pollution control might be as important as a good diet and exercise. In the meantime, I suppose I can run my marathon in a gasmask.
Clean Air, Clean Arteries
Posted by Nikki F.
A friend of mine is supposed to run the L.A. Marathon with me, but she has reneged on her decision with the excuse that polluted L.A. air will corrode her lungs. While I think she should tough it out and run with me, new research out of UCLA is starting to make me think otherwise.
Apparently, air pollution causes heart attacks, go figure. The diesel exhaust particles that pollute air are coated in chemicals containing free radicals—molecules that cause cell and tissue damage. When those free radicals mix with the free radicals generated by LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, “their combination creates a dangerous synergy that wreaks cardiovascular havoc far beyond what’s caused by the diesel or cholesterol alone,” principal investigator Dr. Andre Nel, chief of nanomedicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, explains.
The havoc? Dr. Jesus Araujo, UCLA assistant professor of medicine and director of environmental cardiology at the Geffen School of Medicine, says that the dirty duo “activate the genes that promote cellular inflammation—a major risk factor for atherosclerosis.” Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) significantly increases one’s risk for heart attack and stroke. Ack.
The UCLA team’s next step is to create a way for physicians to determine whether a person’s exposure to the pollutants has reached levels that require medical intervention.
On the prevention end, greater air pollution control might be as important as a good diet and exercise. In the meantime, I suppose I can run my marathon in a gasmask.