Exposure to Air Pollutants and Lewy Body and Parkinson Disease-Related Dementias
All Authors:
Dimitry Davydow, MD, MPH 1,3
Gregory Pontone, MD, MHS 2,3
Michael Okun, MD 2,3
Melissa Armstrong, MD 2,3
Theresa Wimberley Böttger, PhD, MSc 4,5
Camila Geels, PhD 6
Lise Marie Frohn, PhD 6
Jørgen Brandt, PhD 6
Julie Werenberg Dreier, MsPh 4,5
Jakob Christensen, MD, PhD 7,8
Carsten Bøcker Pedersen, DrMedSc 4,5,9,10
Henriette Thisted Horsdal, MSc, PhD 4,9
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville
2Department of Neurology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville
3Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville
4National Centre for Register-based Research and the Centre for Integrated Register-based Research, Aarhus, Denmark
5Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
6Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
7Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus Denmark
8Department of Neurology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
9Big Data Centre for Environment and Health, Aarhus University, Denmark
10Hammel Neurorehabilitation Centre and University Research Clinic, Aarhus University, Hammel, Denmark
Published in:
JAMA Network Open
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What’s this study about?
We sought to determine if exposure to ambient particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is associated with increased risk of dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) and/or Parkinson disease-related dementia (PDD).
Key findings:
In fully adjusted models, each 5 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 exposure was associated with nearly 4-fold greater risk of DLB and more than 2-fold greater risk of PDD, while each 10 µg/m3 increase in NO2 exposure was associated with 95% greater risk of and 14% greater risk of PDD.
Why it matters:
In this case-control study, exposures to ambient PM2.5 or NO2 were each associated with increased risks of DLB and PDD, with a greater magnitude of association for risk of DLB. These findings warrant concern about the impact of air pollution on brain health.