INFORMATION:
* Please note that numbers in this release may differ slightly from those in the abstract. Many of these investigations are ongoing; the release represents the most up-to-date data available at press time.
Abstract 64451
The Roles of Lung Function and Air Pollution on Cognitive Decline: Predictor and Mediator?
Type:
Scientific Abstract
Category:
06.02 - Clinical Epidemiology of Environmental Health (EOPH/BSHSR/PC)
Authors:
M. Vossoughi1, A. Vierkötter1, D. Sugiri1, N. Probst-Hensch2, S. Stolz1, C. Luckhaus3, A. Hüls1, U. Ranft1, U. Krämer1, T. Schikowski1; 1IUF - Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine - Düsseldorf/DE, 2Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute - Basel/CH, 3Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf - Düsseldorf/DE
Abstract Body
Background: Air pollution exposure leads to impaired lung function as well as to decline in cognitive function. Further, cognitive decline is highly prevalent in people with impaired lung function.
Objective: To evaluate whether impaired lung function is not only a risk factor for cognitive decline but also a mediator on the pathway from air pollution exposure to cognitive decline.
Methods: We used data from the Study on the influence of Air pollution on Lung function, Inflammation and Aging (SALIA). Multiple regressions modelling adjusted for potential risk factors was used in 834 women. We first tested the association between impaired lung function (FEV1, FVC, and the average of the measurements during follow-up) and cognitive decline (subtests of the CERAD plus test battery) adjusting for a set of potential confounders. Next, we applied a mediator analysis to test the influence of lung function on the air pollution-cognitive decline association. Particulate matters (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) extrapolated back to the baseline period of the study were used for analyses.
Results: In the adjusted analysis impaired lung function at baseline was significantly stronger associated with decline in visuo-spatial ability than the other cognitive tests. This association was stronger for one litre lower FVC (β= -0.3583; p=0.007) than for one litre lower FEV1 (β= -0.3075; p=0.048). Using the average lung function decline between baseline and follow-up, the association with visuo-spatial ability was again strong for FVC (β= -0.4114; p=0.004) compared to FEV1 (β= -0.3477; p=0.042). No association could be detected with the ratio FEV1/FVC and any of the cognitive tests. The mediation analysis showed that lung function was not a mediator between the association of air pollution and decline in cognition. For example, additional adjustment FVC changed hardly the association of NO2 (from β= -0.3111; p=0.003 to β= -0.3018; p=0.004) or PM10 (β= -0.3158; p < 0.001 to β= -0.3082; p < 0.001) with visuo-spatial ability for one interquartile range increase of air pollution und could not be considered as mediator.
Conclusion: Our study offers a relatively comprehensive perspective of impaired lung function-related cognitive deficits and their association with air pollution. Lung function throughout adulthood appears to be a predictor for the development of cognitive impairment in the elderly, however, air pollution and impaired lung function are independent predictors for cognitive decline. Future studies are required to elucidate the mechanisms underlying impaired lung function, air pollution, and cognitive decline.
Air pollution and impaired lung function are independent risk factors for cognitive decline
2015-05-18
(Press-News.org) Studies have shown that both air pollution and impaired lung function can cause cognitive deficits, but it was unclear whether air pollution diminishes cognition by reducing breathing ability first or whether air pollution represents an independent risk factor for cognitive deficit. Now a new study conducted by German and Swiss researchers has answered that question: air pollution directly affects cognition and is not mediated by lung function.
The researchers, who analyzed data from a study of 834 elderly German women, will present their findings at ATS 2015 in Denver, May 15 to 20.
"Our findings disprove the hypothesis that air pollution first decreases lung function and this decline, in turn, causes cognitive impairment by releasing stress signals and humoral mediators into the body," explains Mohammad Vossoughi, a PhD student at the Leibniz (Germany) Institute for Environmental Medicine, who led the study.
Mr. Vossoughi adds that the findings suggest other hypotheses about how air pollution affects cognition, including the possibility that particulate matter and other pollutants are translocated to the central nervous system via our sense of smell and that leads to mild cognitive impairment.
To reach their conclusions, the team of German and Swiss researchers used data from the cohort Study on the influence of Air pollution on Lung function, Inflammation and Aging, or SALIA. The researchers first tested the association between impaired lung function and cognitive impairment. They measured change in lung function through force expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced volume capacity (FVC). They measured cognitive changes using tests from the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD), a neuropsychological battery used to study Alzheimer's progression.
After adjusting for risk factors known to affect lung and/or cognitive impairment, including age, body mass index, smoking status, education, and the presence of a gene variant implicated in Alzheimer's disease (the ApoE ε4 risk allele), they found the strongest association between impaired lung function and cognitive decline in the test that measures visuo-spatial ability. At baseline: one liter lower FVC resulted in an absolute decline in cognition of -0.3583 (p=0.007); one liter lower FEV1 resulted in a decline of -0.3075 (p=0.048). This association persisted at follow-up.
Next, the group applied a mediator analysis to test the influence of lung function on the air-pollution-cognitive-decline association. They looked at both particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), factors known to reduce lung health. After studying changes in FEV1 and FVC as a result of an interquartile increase in both from baseline, they could not find a corresponding decrease in visuo-spatial ability: PM10 (β= -0.3158; p < 0.001 to β= -0.3082; p < 0.001); NO2 (from β= -0.3111; p=0.003 to β= -0.3018; p=0.004).
Although Mr. Vossoughi says that their study was "fairly comprehensive," he believes further studies are warranted to confirm the findings in populations including men and those who are not elderly and "to elucidate the mechanisms underlying impaired lung function, air pollution and cognitive decline."
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Predictors of risk for COPD exacerbations in patients using inhaled medications
2015-05-18
ATS 2015, DENVER--Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), being female, and certain scores on the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) were associated with exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in subjects using long-acting controller medication, according to a study presented at the 2015 American Thoracic Society International Conference.
"Knowing these factors can help clinicians identify subjects at risk for acute exacerbations of their COPD," said Robert Busch, MD, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston.
Although inhaled medications ...
Stable overall suicide rate among young children obscures racial differences
2015-05-18
The overall suicide rate among children ages 5 to 11 was stable during the 20 years from 1993 to 2012 but that obscures racial differences that show an increase in suicide among black children and a decrease among white children, according to an article published online by JAMA Pediatrics.
Youth suicide is a major public health concern. However not much is known about childhood suicide because prior studies have typically excluded children younger than 10 years old and only investigated trends among older children, according to the study background.
Jeffrey A. Bridge, ...
Evaluating adverse cardiac events in patients with chest pain at hospital admission
2015-05-18
Patients with chest pain who are admitted to the hospital after an emergency department evaluation with negative findings and nonconcerning vital signs rarely had adverse cardiac events, suggesting that routine inpatient admission may not be a beneficial strategy for this group of patients, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.
Patients with potentially ischemic (restricted blood flow) chest pain are commonly admitted to the hospital or observed after a negative evaluation in the emergency department because of concern about adverse events. ...
Study examines concussion, cognition, brain changes in retired NFL players
2015-05-18
A preliminary study of retired National Football League (NFL) players suggests that history of concussion with loss of consciousness may be a risk factor for increased brain atrophy in the area involved with memory storage and impaired memory performance later in life, according to an article published online by JAMA Neurology.
While most individuals recover completely from concussion within days or weeks, the potential association of concussion and the subsequent development of memory dysfunction with brain atrophy later in life remains poorly understood, according to ...
NYU researchers ID part of the brain for processing speech
2015-05-18
A team of New York University neuroscientists has identified a part of the brain exclusively devoted to processing speech. Its findings point to the superior temporal sulcus (STS), located in the temporal lobe, and help settle a long-standing debate about role-specific neurological functions.
"We now know there is at least one part of the brain that specializes in the processing of speech and doesn't have a role in handling other sounds," explains David Poeppel, the paper's senior author, a professor in NYU's Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science.
The ...
Study: Many people in emergency department for chest pain don't to be need admitted
2015-05-18
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Chest pain is a scary symptom that sends more than 7 million Americans to the emergency department each year. About half of them are admitted to the hospital for further observation, testing or treatment. Now, emergency medicine physicians at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Mount Carmel Health System believe that number can be significantly reduced.
Their study, published in today's JAMA Internal Medicine, finds a very low short-term risk for life-threatening cardiac events among patients with chest pain who have normal cardiac blood ...
Microchip captures clusters of circulating tumor cells -- NIH study
2015-05-18
Researchers have developed a microfluidic chip that can capture rare clusters of circulating tumor cells, which could yield important new insights into how cancer spreads. The work was funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), part of the National Institutes of Health.
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cells that break away from a tumor and move through a cancer patient's bloodstream. Single CTCs are extremely rare, typically fewer than 1 in 1 billion cells. These cells can take up residence in distant organs, and researchers ...
US West's power grid must be prepared for impacts of climate change
2015-05-18
TEMPE, Arizona -- Electricity generation and distribution infrastructure in the Western United States must be "climate-proofed" to diminish the risk of future power shortages, according to research by two Arizona State University engineers.
Expected increases in extreme heat and drought events will bring changes in precipitation, air and water temperatures, air density and humidity, write Matthew Bartos and Mikhail Chester in the current issue of the research journal Nature Climate Change.
The authors say the changing conditions could significantly constrain the energy ...
Suicide trends in school-aged children reveal racial disparity
2015-05-18
Suicide is a leading cause of death among children younger than 12 years. Suicide rates in this age group have remained steady overall for the past 20 years, but a study published today in JAMA Pediatrics from The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital is the first national study to observe higher suicide rates among black children compared to white children.
"Little is known about the epidemiology of suicide in this age group," said Jeff Bridge, PhD, lead researcher of the study and principal investigator at the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practice ...
UCSF-led study explains how early childhood vaccination reduces leukemia risk
2015-05-18
A team led by UCSF researchers has discovered how a commonly administered vaccine protects against acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common type of childhood cancer.
The Haemophilus influenzae Type b (Hib) vaccine not only prevents ear infections and meningitis caused by the Hib bacterium, but also protects against ALL, which accounts for approximately 25 percent of cancer diagnoses among children younger than 15 years, according to the National Cancer Society. The Hib vaccine is part of the standard vaccination schedule recommended by the Centers for Disease ...