Pollution-cholesterol link to heart disease seen

LA Times ^ | july 29th 2007 | DancesWithCats

[DancesWithCats]

The combination activates genes that can cause clogged arteries, UCLA researchers say.

By Marla Cone, Times Staff Writer July 26, 2007

Strengthening the link between air pollution and cardiovascular disease, new research suggests that people with high cholesterol are especially vulnerable to heart disease when they are exposed to diesel exhaust and other ultra-fine particles that are common pollutants in urban air.

"Their combination creates a dangerous synergy that wreaks cardiovascular havoc far beyond what's caused by the diesel or cholesterol alone," said Dr. André Nel, chief of nanomedicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a researcher at UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute. He led a team of 10 scientists who conducted the study, published in an online version of the journal Genome Biology.

Although diet, smoking and other factors contribute to the risk of cardiovascular disease — the leading cause of death in the Western world — scientists have long believed that air pollution, particularly tiny pieces of soot from trucks and factories, plays a major role, too.

For years, scientists around the world have reported that on days when fine-particle pollution increases, deaths from lung diseases, heart attacks and strokes rise substantially. Riverside County and the San Gabriel Valley have among the worst fine-particle pollution in the nation.

The scientists say their study, conducted on human cells as well as on mice, is the first to explain how particulates in the air activate genes that can cause heart attacks or strokes.

The researchers exposed human blood cells to a combination of diesel particles and oxidized fats, then extracted their DNA. Working together, the particles and fats switched on genes that cause inflammation of blood vessels, which leads to clogged arteries, or atherosclerosis.

[DancesWithCats]

OH NO MR. BILL!!! Please don't tell me that I have to give up my favorite Mexican food ! AND give up sniffing city bus fumes ... (I know. Weird. What can I tell you? I love the smell of diesel fuel burning!! That, and skunk spray. Childhood memories of skunk cabbage and NYC buses. sigh. Weird. I know.)

Well my cholesterol level is just a few points above safe! Not real bad at all. NOT giving up my chili rellanos OR my lobster tails OR my occasional filet mignon with sauteed mushrooms. Just not worth it, is it?

[metmom]

health ping

[neverdem]

thanks, bfl

[traviskicks]

bookmakr