Air pollution has long been associated with lung disease, but research conducted by the National Taiwan University’s (NTU) College of Public Health showed it might also increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Between 2007 and 2011, researchers studied 249 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, 125 patients with vascular dementia and 497 people in a healthy control group. The majority of the participants were aged between 74 and 76.
The researchers analyzed statistics on particulate matter smaller than 10 micrometers (PM10) in the past 14 years and ozone in the past 12 years from the Environmental Protection Administration’s 24 air quality monitoring stations in the Greater Taipei area and Keelung.
“We discovered that elderly people who had been exposed to PM10 at a level of 49.23 micrograms per cubic meter or higher were four times more prone to developing Alzheimer’s than those exposed to lower levels of the particles,” the research paper’s first author Wu Yun-chun (吳昀麇) told a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
Wu said the risk is directly proportional to the PM10 level a person has been exposed to.
Wu said participants who had long-term exposure to ozone at a density higher than 21.56 parts per billion (ppb) also had double the chance of suffering from Alzheimer’s than their low level-exposed counterparts.
As for vascular dementia, elderly people with exposure to high concentrations of PM10 and ozone are 3.6 times and two times more susceptible to developing the disease respectively, Wu said.
National Taiwan University Hospital neurologist Chen Ta-fu (陳達夫) said the link between exposure to PM10 and increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease could be because PM10 carries certain substances that harm the human body.
“After being inhaled via the nasal cavity, these substances could cause the brain to become chronically inflamed and thus raise the risk of developing Alzheimer’s,” Chen said.
NTU Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine associate professor Karen Chen (程蘊菁) said PM10 density is particularly high near busy main roads and the level of ozone normally peaks at about noon.
“Elderly people are advised to stay indoors and keep their windows shut around noon and rush hours,” Chen said.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
RSS