According to a study recently published in the Journal of American Medical Association Psychiatry, people living in highly polluted areas have a higher risk of depression and anxiety as compared to low polluted areas. Study concluded how long term exposure to polluted air linked to increased risk of depression.
Researchers from Peking University School of Public Health, University of Oxford and Imperial College of London explored records of 389,185 people from the UK Biobank, a large-scale biomedical database of half a million diverse volunteers.
The study suggests that the smallest particulate matter in polluted air is PM2.5, which is tiny enough to enter the human body’s defenses. Rather than getting outside while exhaling, the matter can get stuck in lungs or blood.
Further, this can cause irritation or inflammation leading to respiratory problems. Cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases have been associated with increased risks to depression and anxiety.
More details on the published research can be accessed here:
News Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/02/02/air-pollution-depression-anxiety-study/
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