New Studies Highlight, the Negative Effect of Pollution, on Brain Health.
'The New York Times' reports that working out in polluted air may negate some of the brain benefits provided by exercise.
.
Two new studies that took a look at exercise, air quality and brain health found that people who get vigorous exercise tended to have larger brain volumes and a reduced risk of dementia.
.
However, people who exercised in areas with moderate levels of air pollution saw the expected brain benefits of exercise virtually disappear.
.
According to a 2013 study, older Americans living in high-pollution areas tended to develop higher rates of mental decline than older people living in less polluted areas.
According to one of the recent studies, published in January in 'Neurology,' the heavier you breathe, such as when exercising, the more air pollutants you draw in.
.
The results of the first study were followed up in another study published this month in 'Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.'.
The follow-up study showed that regardless of getting regular exercise, people in moderately-polluted areas had an increased long-term risk of developing dementia.
.
These data are of significant importance in terms of our understanding of modifiable risk factors for brain aging, Pamela Lein, a professor of neurotoxicity at the University of California, Davis, via 'The New York Times'.
The observation that air pollution negates the well-established beneficial effects of exercise on brain health is alarming and increases the urgency for developing more-effective regulatory policies, Pamela Lein, a professor of neurotoxicity at the University of California, Davis, via 'The New York Times'
