(Press-News.org) BOSTON – Living close to a major highway poses a significant risk to heart attack survivors, reinforcing the need to isolate housing developments from heavy traffic areas, a Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center study concludes.
Writing in the May 7 edition of Circulation, researchers found heart attack survivors living less than 100 meters or 328 feet from a roadway have a 27 percent higher risk of over within 10 years than survivors living at least 1,000 meters away. That risk recedes to 13 percent for those living between 200 and 1,000-meter or 656 to 3,277-feet from the roadway.
"Living close to a highway is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes in those with underlying cardiac disease," says Murray Mittleman, MD, DrPH, a physician in the CardioVascular Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of BIDMC's cardiovascular epidemiological research program. "Besides air pollution, exposure to noise could be a possible mechanism underlying this association."
The Onset study of 3,547 heart attack survivors in 64 community hospitals and tertiary care medical centers recorded 1,071 deaths over 10 years. Of that total, 63 percent of the patients died of cardiovascular disease, 12 percent died of cancer and 4 percent expired from respiratory disease. Researchers analyzed factors such as personal, clinical and neighborhood-level characteristics such as income and education.
"People with lower levels of education and income are more likely to live in communities closer to a major roadway, so they are bearing a larger burden of the risk associated with exposure than people with more resources," says Mittleman.
In a study published earlier this year, a team led by Mittleman found air pollution, even at levels generally considered safe by federal regulations, increases the risk of stroke by 34 percent. Exposure to ambient fine particulate matter, generally from vehicle traffic, was associated with a significantly higher risk of ischemic strokes on days when the EPA's air quality index for particulate matter was yellow instead of green.
These finding provide new evidence that long-term exposure to roadways is associated with an increased risk of death in patients with underlying cardiovascular disease.
"Clinicians need to educate their patients on the risks posed by particulate matter pollution and encourage patients with cardiovascular disease to avoid unnecessary exposure to traffic," says Mittleman.
"On a public policy level, city planners should consider locating housing developments away from the most heavily trafficked roadways."
"This study adds to the growing knowledge linking roadways and traffic to health problems, even death, especially among those with pre-existent disease – in this case a previous heart attack," says Dan Costa, ScD, DABT, National Program Director for Air Climate & Energy Research in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development Research.
In addition to Mittleman, co-authors include Joshua I. Rosenbloom, MPH, Elizabeth H. Wilker ScD, of the BIDMC Cardiovascular Epidemiological Research Unit; Kenneth J. Mukamal MD. MPH of BIDMC's Division of General Medicine and Primary Care; and Joel Schwartz, PhD of the Harvard School of Public Health.
INFORMATION:The study was funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Environmental Health Science. Wilker was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health and Rosenbloom was supported by the Harvard Medical School Scholars in Medicine Office.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and currently ranks third in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. BIDMC is clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a research partner of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit www.bidmc.org.
END
Washington, D.C.— In the search for Earth-like planets, it is helpful to look for clues and patterns that can help scientist narrow down the types of systems where potentially habitable planets are likely to be discovered. New research from a team including Carnegie's Alan Boss narrows down the search for Earth-like planets near Jupiter-like planets. Their work indicates that the early post-formation movements of hot-Jupiter planets probably disrupt the formation of Earth-like planets.
Their work is published the week of May 7 by Proceedings of the National Academy of ...
Pasadena, CA—Type Ia supernovae are important stellar phenomena, used to measure the expansion of the universe. But astronomers know embarrassingly little about the stars they come from and how the explosions happen. New research from a team led by Harvard University and including Carnegie's Josh Simon, Chris Burns, Nidia Morrell, and Mark Phillips examined 23 Type Ia supernovae and helped identify the formation process for at least some of them. Their work will be published in The Astrophysical Journal and is available online.
Type Ia supernovae are violent stellar explosions. ...
Despite worlds of potential, sales of Amalga have been limited and its overall KLAS performance score has dropped 14 points in the last two years, from 84.2 to 69.9, revealing a split personality in customer opinions. Some healthcare providers are pleased with the results that Amalga has achieved at their facility, and others are displeased with the product as a whole.
Given Amalga's potential, yet lack of progress, this KLAS study takes a closer look at Amalga's story. The report "Microsoft Amalga 2012: The Price of Flexibility" discusses why some customers ...
On May 1, USDA Forest Service, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Memphis Zoo, and other partners released seven young Louisiana pine snakes on a restored longleaf pine stand in the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana. The release is the fourth in 2 years, part of a plan to restore a very rare snake to its range in Louisiana. Last year the partners released 20 newly hatched snakes; this year's snakes are 6 months old and about 3 feet long.
Four to 5 feet long as an adult and covered with a striking pattern of black, brown ...
Women in the upper echelons of corporations are not helping other qualified women break through the glass ceiling according to new research from Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.
"My research aims to understand the complicated processes that contribute to the dearth of women in the top tiers of organizations," says Michelle Duguid, PhD, assistant professor of organizational behavior at Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis, and author of "Female Tokens in High-prestige Work Groups: Catalysts or Inhibitors of ...
EAST LANSING, Mich. — The peak risk for misusing prescription pain relievers occurs in mid-adolescence, specifically about 16 years old and earlier than many experts thought, according to a new study by Michigan State University researchers.
The results, based on recent nationwide surveys of nearly 120,000 U.S. adolescents, suggest prevention programs may need to be introduced earlier, in childhood and early adolescence, said James C. Anthony of MSU's Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
Recent trends show clinicians and public health professionals are prescribing ...
The city of Providence is seriously considering its options in the wake of a $20 million budget deficit. Like many municipalities across the country, Providence is having trouble in these difficult financial times. The mayor and city managers are looking at bankruptcy as a last resort to restore the city's fiscal health.
Providence has explored several measures to close the gap in the budget, yet up to this point it has not fully resolved the problem. The city has requested voluntary concessions from city retiree pension plan holders in an effort to help stave off bankruptcy. ...
The Atlanta movers at A.C. White Relocations are pleased to introduce their company's newest division, Secure Record Storage, to the public. Secure Record Storage offers private, secure storage for business and personal records.
No matter the number of documents to be stored, Secure Record Storage is the safest choice. By storing records with Secure Record Storage, clients get the very best in safe, climate controlled private storage to ensure that their documents are safe from any threat from weather to thieves.
When you are running a business, paper copies can quickly ...
Atlanta tree service Yellow Ribbon Tree Experts encourages Atlanta residents to hang a tree swing or hammock in their yard to enjoy the warm weather.
"With such a mild winter this year, many Atlantans are already excited about spending time outdoors this spring," notes Gary Robertson, owner of Atlanta tree removal company Yellow Ribbon Tree Experts. "Many people find that adding a tree swing or hammock encourages them to enjoy their outdoor space even more."
The most important thing to consider when hanging a tree swing or hammock is the tree or ...
2011 was a volatile year in the global economy. Unrest and uprisings in the Middle East drove oil prices higher early in the year. Japan was hit by an earthquake, a tsunami and a nuclear disaster, which disrupted supply chains around the globe. Political gridlock and inept politicians brought the U.S. government to the brink of shutting down, and Standard & Poor's downgraded the United States from AAA.
Not to be outdone, politicians in Europe failed to provide the leadership needed to create lasting structural reforms and calm market fears over their sovereign debt ...
