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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 Kettunen suggests that people might be more vulnerable to air pollution in warmer months, because they are outside and open their windows and doors more than in cold months and, therefore, their exposures are higher. In addition, differences in the makeup of air pollution between seasons may play a role.
"We suggest that on high pollution days, elderly people should avoid spending unnecessary time in traffic, whether in a vehicle or walking, especially if they suffer from cardiovascular diseases, to lower their exposure to pollutants," Kettunen said. "They should also avoid heavy outdoor exercise on high air pollution days. And nursing homes, for example, should not be built along heavily trafficked roads, where particle concentrations are at their highest," she added.
One expert believes the association between stroke and pollution is possible, just as it is with heart attack.
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"The link between pollution and heart attacks has been established a few years ago," said Dr. Gottfried Schlaug, an associate professor of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. "Now, we see more reports coming out to suggest that there are links between pollution and stroke as well. Possible explanations are systemic inflammations, which could change blood clotting parameters or could lead to rupture of atherosclerotic plaques, as well as increases in plasma [blood] viscosity, which could increase the stroke risk."
Another expert thinks these findings need to be repeated in other studies before they are convincing.
"The findings are intriguing, but the authors tested a number of associations," said Dr. S. Claiborne Johnston, director of the Stroke Service at University of California, San Francisco. "The association only with ultra-fine pollution and only in the warm season seems quite strange, and could be due to chance. These results really need to be repeated."
More information
For more information on stroke, visit the American Stroke Association.
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