Systemic inflammation may play a role in how air pollution contributes to cognitive impairment

Air pollution is often viewed as an outdoor hazard and a threat to respiratory health. Emerging research shows that air pollution may also affect our brain health. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5), is a complex mixture of many chemicals that can be inhaled deep into the lungs. While PM2.5 exposure has long been linked to tissue damage and inflammation in the lung, its role in cognitive decline is only now gaining attention.

Researchers have uncovered a potential link: systemic inflammation, driven by an increase in monocytes—a type of white blood cells—may be a key mediator in how PM2.5 exposure contributes to cognitive impairment.

PM2.5 are fine airborne particles small enough to enter the lungs and even the bloodstream, posing significant health risks. Long-term exposure has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases.

While most studies on cognitive decline focus on elderly people, there is growing evidence that chronic low-level exposure to PM2.5 may also affect younger adults.

To explore this, the researchers analyzed data from over 66,000 participants in the Dutch Lifelines cohort. Combining adult participants' blood analysis and cognitive testing over a period of 10 years.

The researchers found that PM2.5 exposure correlates with a decline in cognitive processing time (CPT), a measure of how quickly the brain can respond to stimuli. Interestingly, an increase in white blood cell count, particularly monocytes, the largest subtype involved in immune responses, mediated a significant part of this effect.

"Systemic inflammation may act as a key intermediary, linking PM2.5 exposure to impaired cognitive function," explains Dr. Benjamin Aretz.

While PM2.5 can directly affect the brain by crossing the blood-brain barrier and triggering local inflammation, this study highlights the broader systemic inflammation upon exposure.

Art Solbrig’s Memory Loss Protocol

https://www.earthclinic.com/cures/art-solbrig-protocol-for-memory-loss.html

” . . .Updated: August 2, 2021

For the last 3 to 4 years, a close friend of mine seemed to be having more and more memory lapses where she would lose track of what she was talking about right in the middle of what she was talking to me about.

The condition seemed to be worsening with time, and my friend went from pausing and regaining her train of thought, to being unable to remember what she had just been talking about. She would often say, “I can’t remember what I was thinking or going to say!”

I also noticed that if we watched a movie together and I were to ask her any specifics about the film a day or two later, she could not remember much if anything about the movie.

A couple of other issues she was having were when she was doing research online, she had to write down what she wanted to search for on Google. Otherwise, by the time she went to enter her search on Google, she would forget what she wanted to search for. This was happening with increasing frequency.

Another issue was going into another room to get something, only to forget what she was going to get. This is a common issue that you can have and not mean that your memory is declining, but in her case, these events were increasing to almost always.

This started occurring with greater frequency and I felt terrible for her and hesitated to ever mention it to her for the first 2 to 3 years or so because that can be an awkward conversation to have with a close friend or anyone for that matter! By the third year, I finally decided that I better throw caution to the wind because letting a memory deficit go for too long may get to the point of “no return,” and I definitely didn’t want that for my friend!

From what I have seen and learned, I think the best chance of reversing a situation like this is to attack the problem as early as possible, but easier said than done sometimes.

So I did eventually have that conversation with her, and it actually went reasonably well.

I asked her if she realized that her memory had been worsening for quite a while, and she told me, yes, that she realized she was having more and more “senior moments” and in remembering things in general and said she really didn’t understand why. I asked her if she would be interested in seeing if she could improve the situation because once it starts like this, it generally continues to worsen. The available meds are not very effective for the purpose of improving memory longer term!

I asked her if her doctor had brought the subject up with her, and she told me no, her doctor had never mentioned it to her. She had never mentioned it to her doctor, which means she was never diagnosed with a possible cause for her memory issues.

I was very clear with her and reminded her that it had taken her over 75 years to get to this point, and any improvements would not happen overnight. She should figure on allowing at least a year to see any noticeable or significant benefits at best.

So we met again, and I suggested that since I was thinking of multiple supplements for her situation, it might be best to start with one at a time so she would be able to first make sure she could tolerate the supplement and to see if it was helpful for her or not. She had other health issues, so I started her with a supplement that might also be helpful for her other health issues and memory, had a good safety profile, and was readily available at a reasonable cost. I told her that this process may require more than the label suggested dosing in some cases, and I asked her if she would be comfortable doing that, and she said yes as long as it did not cause her any problems.

Amla Extract Capsules
So the first supplement I suggested she start with was . . .” . . .

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