Better Air, Better Brains

July 27, 2021

(Medpage Today) – Improved air quality was tied to lower dementia risk and slower cognitive decline, studies presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) showed. Dementia risk dropped by 26% in older women who lived in U.S. locations with greater reductions in traffic-related nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and by 14% in areas with a greater decline in fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), said Xinhui Wang, PhD, of University of Southern California. These relationships occurred regardless of age, education, geographic region, APOE4 genotype, or cardiovascular risk. (Read Full Article)