Air pollution increases blood clot risk

2008-05-14 11:37:37 [ Big Normal Small ]    　Comment

Air pollution increseas the risk of blood clots.


BEIJING, May 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Air pollution increases the risk of blood clots -- deep vein thrombosis (DVT), according to an Italian research quoted by media reports Wednesday.

"It is well-established that air pollution causes myocardial infarction [heart attack] and stroke," said Andrea Baccarelli, who led the study while at the Harvard School of Public Health. "This is the first time that anyone has connected air pollution with deep vein thrombosis."

Baccarelli and colleagues in Italy studied 870 people diagnosed with DVT from 1995 to 2005. They compared their particulate air pollution exposure in the year before their diagnosis to that of 1,210 matched people without DVT.

Compensating for other environmental and health factors, the researchers found that the risk of deep vein thrombosis increased by 70 percent for every increase in particulate matter of 10 micrograms per square meter. Tests showed that the blood of people more exposed to such pollution took less time to form clots.

"Our findings introduce a novel and common risk factor into the pathogenesis of DVT and, at the same time, give further substance to the call for tighter standards and continued efforts aimed at reducing the impact of urban air pollutants on human health," Baccarelli and colleagues concluded.

Deep vein thrombosis is a blood clot that forms in vein in the body. Blood clots occur when blood thickens and clumps together. Most deep vein blood clots occur in the lower leg or thigh. They also can occur in other parts of the body.

The risk of DVT is known to be increased by long periods of immobility. In particular, passengers on long-haul flights have been shown to be vulnerable, but so are people who spend long periods of time sitting at their office desk without exercising, or walking around.

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