Inhaling air pollution could lead to Alzheimer’s
Researchers from Lancaster University in the U.K. have found that tiny specks of metal exhaust from vehicles can reach the brain and may cause Alzheimer’s disease. Iron nanoparticles have long been known to be present in the human brain but they were thought to be there from the naturally present iron in our bodies.
However, a new research that closely looked at the shape of the particles indicates they mostly came from air pollution. The study was conducted on 37 people from Mexico and England and millions of tiny magnetic crystals were found inside the brains. These particles are known to damage the cells, eventually leading to cell death which can fuel the onset of Alzheimer’s. “There is iron as impurities in fuel, and there is iron in a car engine block. If you walk down the street you’ll be breathing them in – how could they not get into your system?” reasoned Barbara Maher of Lancaster University, U.K.
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