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Smog and psyche, + 13% depression risk and + 9% anxiety – Medicine

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Smog and psyche, + 13% depression risk and + 9% anxiety – Medicine

Chronic exposure to vehicular traffic pollution increases the risk of developing mental illness and when the smog is beyond alert levels, existing psychiatric conditions can worsen. Thus the risk of depression increases by 13%. This was stated by the experts gathered for the RespiraMi International Seminar: Recent Advances on Air Pollution and Health organized by the IRCCS Ca ‘Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico Foundation and the Menarini International Foundation, in Milan on 17-18 June.

For the first time in Italy, a study on just under two million people followed for eight years quantifies, the specialists explain, the impact on mental health of chronic exposure to fine and ultra-fine particulate matter and air pollution. For each increase of about 1 microgram per cubic meter in exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), the risk of depression increases by 13%, that of anxiety disorders by 9%, of schizophrenia by 7%, especially in the age between 30 and 64 years. Similarly, there is a correlation between the presence of smog and the increase in the prescriptions of antipsychotics, antidepressants and mood stabilizers that increase up to 4%. When urban air quality is poorer, the risk of a worsening of existing psychiatric diseases also increases: a study conducted in Italy on patients with bipolar depression shows that on days of high particulate matter the probability of hospitalization for a manic episode can almost quadruple.

These new “worrying data on the long-term effects of pollution indicate that smog is a concrete danger not only for the heart and lungs, but also for the brain – observes Sergio Harari, co-president of the Seminar and Director of the Pneumology Operating Unit, San Giuseppe MultiMedica Hospital in Milan and professor of Internal Medicine at the State University – Smog can be toxic to brain functioning to the point of causing psychiatric pathologies, probably through an increase in general inflammation or an alteration of the antioxidant defenses “. And the effect of smog on cognitive development in children is now also known: “We know for example that the levels of exposure to air pollution correlate with the skills in mathematical and language tests – comments Pier Mannuccio Mannucci, Professor Emeritus of Internal Medicine , University of Milan and Milan Polyclinic -. On the contrary, the green spaces in the school and in the surrounding environment help learning, leading to an improvement in cognitive development “.

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Experts, ‘smog like smoke, even below limits harms health’
Even at ‘low doses’ the risk of mortality and heart disease increases
Smog like smoke: even below the limit values ​​it damages health. Chronic exposure to pollution, even at levels below the legal thresholds sanctioned by the EU, increases the probability of death from natural causes, cardiovascular, heart attacks, strokes and cardiopulmonary mortality in general. These are the preliminary data collected in Italy on just over 2.5 million citizens of Rome, Turin and Bologna. The negative effects of exposure to smog during pregnancy are also confirmed: low but constant levels of pollution lead to an increase in the probability of complications during gestation and at the time of delivery.
There is therefore no ‘safe dose’ for smog: when the air is polluted, overall health always pays the price. Just as there is no zero risk with cigarettes, because even occasional smoking puts the heart and lungs at risk, so even being exposed for a long time to low levels of pollution compromises general health and shortens life. This is demonstrated by studies discussed during the RespiraMi international seminar: Recent Advances in Air Pollution and Health, co-organized by the IRCCS Ca ‘Granda Foundation Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico and the Menarini International Foundation.
“We have observed that exposure to fine particulate matter (PM10) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with an increase in mortality for levels below those indicated as legal limits by the EU Air Quality Directive, equal 40 micrograms / m3 for fine particles and 25 micrograms / m3 for fine particles – explains Massimo Stafoggia, of the Department of Epidemiology of the Health Service of the Lazio Region – ASL Roma 1, coordinator of the investigation – In particular, for each increase in 1 microgram / m3 of fine particulate matter, an increase of 0.3% of the risk of mortality from non-accidental causes and of 0.5% for cardiovascular diseases has been estimated; this increase is approximately 2% in correspondence with increments of 5 micrograms / m3 of fine particulate matter. All this, says Francesco Forastiere, co-president of the Seminar and lecturer at Imperial College of London, “can have long-term consequences even on children, for example an increase in congenital malformations affecting the cardiovascular system was observed in the children of women exposed to air pollution during gestation “.
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