This Scientific Breakthrough Can Help You Prevent Dementia
Updated: Jan. 06, 2017
Air pollution may be more dangerous than we thought.
How To Decrease Your Risk Of Dementia
If you live half a city block away from heavy day-to-day traffic, you have an increased risk of developing dementia, a new Canadian study conducted by Public Health Ontario (PHO) and The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences finds.
Dementia risk increased by seven percent for people living within 50 meters to heavy traffic, compared to people living 300 meters (six city blocks) away, researchers discovered.
No connection between traffic proximity and Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis has been found.
“This study suggests air pollutants that can get into the brain via the blood stream can lead to neurological problems,” says Dr. Ray Copes, chief of environmental and occupational health at Public Health Ontario (PHO).
Currently, there are 564,000 Canadians living with dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada.
“Little is known in current research about how to reduce the risk of dementia,” says Dr. Hong Chen, an environmental and occupational health scientist at PHO. “With our widespread exposure to traffic and the greater tendency for people to live in cities these days, this has serious public health implications,” he says.
To learn more about dementia and how you can help those living with the disease, visit Dementia Friends Canada.
