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(Ivanhoe Newswire) Diesel fuel may be more economical for our pocketbooks, but it could be exacting a high price from our hearts.
According to a new study out of Europe, diesel exhaust leads to changes in the blood that might increase the risk of heart attacks and stroke.
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The researchers arrived at that conclusion after studying 20 healthy men between the ages of 21 and 44 who were tested for blood changes after spending time in a chamber where they first breathed filtered air and then breathed diesel exhaust similar to that which people would breathe out on a busy street.
Compared to breathing filtered air, breathing diesel exhaust upped the risk for potentially dangerous blood clots by between about 20 percent and 25 percent. The study specifically showed increased platelet activation in the mens blood after breathing diesel exhaust. Platelet activation can cause blood to stick together more easily, thus promoting the formation of clots.
High levels of traffic pollution are known to increase the risk of heart attack in the immediate hours or days after exposure, study author Andrew Lucking, M.D., from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, was quoted as saying. These findings provide a potential mechanism that could link exposure to traffic-derived air pollution with acute heart attack.
The researchers arent sure whether exhaust from gasoline powered engines would have the same effect, because diesel engines produce much finer pollution particles. The solution, they suggest, might be to outfit diesel engines with special traps to catch those particles before they enter the atmosphere, and their next study will investigate that possibility.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Presented at the American Heart Associations Scientific Sessions 2007, November 6, 2007
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