Car Emissions Cloud the Mind

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeBy Todd Neale, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Pollution from traffic was associated with worse cognitive function in a cohort of older men, researchers found.

A doubling of exposure to black carbon -- a marker for traffic pollution -- was associated with a 30% greater chance of having a low score on a screening test for dementia (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.6), according to Melinda Power, a doctoral student at the Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues.

A composite score of six other cognitive function tests was also lower among men with greater exposure to black carbon, the researchers reported online in Environmental Health Perspectives.

"This is the first study to find an association between traffic-related air pollution and cognition in older men, and only the second to consider the relationship in older adults," they wrote.
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