"This is where government involvement is crucial": Pollution increases the risk of dementia, according to a new study

Could pollution increase the risk of dementia? This is according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Cambridge, published in the scientific journal The Lancet .

The latter reviewed 51 previous studies on a total of 30 million people and based in high-income countries, mainly in North America, but also in Europe and Asia.

The researchers looked at three types of air pollution.

Inflammation and oxidative stress

First, fine particles (car traffic, power plants, wood stoves), nitrogen dioxide (fossil fuels) and black carbon from burning wood.

According to the researchers, for every 10 micrograms of fine particles per cubic meter, the risk of dementia increases by 17%. Exposure to the same amount of nitrogen dioxide increases the risk to 3%, and for black carbon, to 13%.

The researchers hypothesize that the penetration of these particles into the brain would create inflammation and oxidative stress.

" There are direct neurological effects: fine and ultrafine particles can travel to the brain via the bloodstream and the olfactory nerve. Once in the brain, these particles can induce neuroinflammation and oxidative stress, both of which are known to be involved in the onset of neurodegenerative diseases ," explained Clare Rogowski, a researcher at the University of Cambridge and first author of this study.

" Air pollution is one of the biggest modifiable risk factors for dementia, but it's not a problem that individuals can solve alone ," Isolde Radford, who was not involved in the research, told The Guardian . " This is where government involvement is crucial. "