According to him USC Children's Health Study, which followed a group of children into adulthood, daily exposure to road traffic emissions during childhood May lay the foundation for cardiovascular disease in adulthood.
The research, recently published in the journal Environmental Health, used ultrasound to examine the carotid arteries in participants at age 10 and again a decade later. Changes in the intima-media thickness of the carotid artery is a measure of very early stage atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of most cardiovascular diseases.
Early detection
The study was based on the most recent Children's Health Study cohort: approximately 5,000 children. Children in the current study came from 13 communities in Southern California, representing a mix of backgrounds.
For each child, the researchers calculated average residential exposures to regional environmental pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter using regulatory air monitoring data. They estimated exposure to nitrogen oxides based on the proximity of a child's home to busy highways.
Still, future studies will provide a more complete picture of the interaction between diet, physical activity, and pollution exposure.
Early detection of changes in the carotid artery has the potential to improve understanding of how cardiovascular disease develops over time in relation to air pollution, and thereby helping to identify children at risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood.
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The news
Traffic pollution linked to early markers of cardiovascular disease in children
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.