Heart Attacks and High Blood Pressure are Linked to Air Pollution Among Teenagers

London, November 25, 2022: Air pollution has been called the most pressing environmental health crisis of our time, as it threatens the health of all living things from humans to plants. According to the United Nations, it is responsible for an estimated 7 million premature deaths every year.

And the latest a new study has found that air pollution could raise a child’s risk of developing high blood pressure later on in life. Researchers led by the King’s College London analyzed eight studies involving around 15,000 children aged between 10 years to 19 years.

And in the review, they found that children were exposed to higher levels of nitrogen dioxide and pm 10 particles. Now, these are released from wood burning. Typically, these children had higher blood pressure at a later stage in life.

However, the strongest result for around 3700 children who were age 12 showed that those exposed to a higher level of PM 2.5 particles that are found in car exhaust fumes, and pm 10 particles. And this exposure for a long time did have significantly higher blood pressure.

And this could lead to high blood pressure in adulthood as well as it increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Moreover, children who were overweight and obese had almost double the risk of reporting cases of high blood pressure.

But how exactly does air pollution affects our body? Let’s first understand the biology behind it. Air pollution particles that are inhaled deep into the body can get into your bloodstream, they can cause damage to the lining of blood vessels.

And this can make blood vessels harder and less elastic. So what this means is that your heart needs to pump faster to force blood through them. And this raises your blood pressure. According to one of the professors who led the scientific review, children are more exposed to pollution as they spend more time outdoors.

This could involve playing football or other sports or spending time outside shopping centers with their friends. In addition to that other experts have warned that children should be encouraged to walk home from school along quieter roads, while schools should surely pay for playgrounds with trees to absorb pollution.