- A study released in the journal Circulation by National
Research Center for Environment and Health researchers says small air pollutants
can trigger a heart attack within two hours of inhalation.
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- Microscopic particles spew from cars and refineries and
power plants every day. Mounting evidence suggests that breathing these
particles can be life threatening.
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- In the latest study, researchers found that the more
particles in the air, the greater the risk of having a heart attack - up
to a 48 percent greater risk. Those most affected are older people with
chronic heart or lung disease.
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- The study was done in Boston, a city with relatively
clean air. Researchers say the heart attack risk might be even greater
in more polluted cities, such as Houston, Los Angeles or New York.
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- And the study suggests the damage may occur quickly.
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- "What we found was a very short-term effect,"
says Dr. Murray Mittleman, a specialist in cardiovascular disease at the
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a professor at the Harvard School
of Public Health. "Within about two hours of breathing in these very
fine particles, the risk of heart attack was elevated."
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- Researchers say the problem begins when the particles
penetrate deep into the lungs and cause inflammation. That triggers the
lungs to release certain chemicals, which pass into the bloodstream and
onto the heart, disrupting the heart's rhythm.
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- Scientists now measure the effects of the heart, beat
by beat.
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- "These effects could be manifested by an increased
heart rate, a lowered heart rate variability or evidence that the heart
is not receiving enough oxygen," explains Henry Gong, Jr., professor
at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.
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- These effects may explain why more people suffer heart
attacks on those hot, hazy, pollution-filled days of summer.
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