MSGID: 1:317/3 6451e36c   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Air pollution may increase risk of dementia, complicated by genetics   
      
      
     Date:   
         May 2, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of California - San Diego   
     Summary:   
         Researchers describe how exposure to ambient air pollution, such   
         as car exhaust and power plant emissions -- is associated with a   
         measurably greater risk of developing dementia over time.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   Three years ago, an international study commissioned by the journal   
   Lancet listed 12 modifiable factors that increased the risk of dementia,   
   including three new ones: excessive alcohol, head injury and air   
   pollution.   
      
   Writing in the May 2, 2023 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease,   
   a team of researchers, led by scientists at University of California   
   San Diego, further elaborate on how exposure to the last of those new   
   factors -- ambient air pollution, such as car exhaust and power plant   
   emissions -- is associated with a measurably greater risk of developing   
   dementia over time.   
      
   Senior author William S. Kremen, PhD, professor of psychiatry and   
   co-director of the Center for Behavior Genetics of Aging at UC San Diego   
   School of Medicine, and colleagues examined baseline cognitive assessments   
   of approximately 1,100 men participating in the ongoing Vietnam Era Twin   
   Study of Aging. Average baseline age was 56, with 12 years of follow up.   
      
   They additionally looked at measures of exposure to particular matter   
   (PM2.5) in the air and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is created when   
   fossil fuels are burned, and assessments of episodic memory, executive   
   function, verbal fluency, brain processing speed and APOE genotype.   
      
   APOE is a gene that provides instructions for making a protein crucial   
   to the transport of cholesterol and other fats in the bloodstream. One   
   version or allele of APOE called APOE-4 has been identified as a strong   
   risk factor gene for Alzheimer's disease.   
      
   The researchers found that participants with higher levels of exposure to   
   PM2.5 and NO2 in their 40s and 50s displayed worse cognitive functioning   
   in verbal fluency from age 56 to 68. And persons with the APOE-4 allele   
   appeared even more sensitive, with those exposed to higher PM2.5 levels   
   showing worse outcomes for executive function and those with higher NO2   
   exposure showing worse outcomes involving episodic memory.   
      
   Executive function refers to higher-level cognitive skills used to plan,   
   control and coordinate mental behaviors and acts. Episodic memory is   
   the ability to recall and re-experience distinct, specific past events.   
      
   "The 2020 Lancet report concluded that modifying 12 risk factors, which   
   include others like education and depression at midlife, could reduce   
   dementia incidence by as much as 40%," said first author Carol E. Franz,   
   PhD, professor of psychiatry and co-director of the Center for Behavior   
   Genetics of Aging.   
      
   "That report placed ambient air pollution as a greater risk for   
   Alzheimer's and related dementias than diabetes, physical activity,   
   hypertension, alcohol consumption and obesity. Our findings underscore   
   the importance of identifying modifiable risk factors as early in life   
   as possible -- and that the processes by which air pollution affects   
   risk for later-life cognitive decline begins earlier than previous   
   studies suggest."  Co-authors include: Daniel E. Gustavson, University   
   of Colorado Boulder; Jeremy A. Elman, Christine Fennema-Notestine,   
   Donald J. Hagler, Jr., Xin M. Tu, Tsung- Chin Wu and Nathan Whitsell,   
   all at UC San Diego; Aaron Baraff, VA Puget Sound Health Care, Seattle;   
   Jaden DeAnda, UC San Diego and San Dieog State University; Asad Beck   
   and Joel D. Kaufman, University of Washington; Caleb E.   
      
   Finch and Jiu-Chiuan Chen, University of Southern California; and   
   Michael J.   
      
   Lyons, Boston University.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Health_&_Medicine   
                   # Healthy_Aging # Alzheimer's_Research #   
                   Multiple_Sclerosis_Research # Asthma   
             o Mind_&_Brain   
                   # Dementia # Intelligence # Alzheimer's # Behavior   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Air_pollution o Pollution o Multi-infarct_dementia   
             o Dementia_with_Lewy_bodies o Indoor_air_quality o   
             Anchoring_bias_in_decision-making o Premature_birth o   
             Mercury_poisoning   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by   
   University_of_California_-_San_Diego. Original written by Nicole   
   Mlynaryk. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Carol E. Franz, Daniel E. Gustavson, Jeremy A. Elman, Christine   
      Fennema-   
         Notestine, Donald J. Hagler Jr., Aaron Baraff, Xin M. Tu, Tsung-Chin   
         Wu, Jaden De Anda, Asad Beck, Joel D. Kaufman, Nathan Whitsel,   
         Caleb E.   
      
         Finch, Jiu-Chiuan Chen, Michael J. Lyons, William   
         S. Kremen. Associations Between Ambient Air Pollution and   
         Cognitive Abilities from Midlife to Early Old Age: Modification   
         by APOE Genotype. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 2023; 1 DOI:   
         10.3233/jad-221054   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230502155413.htm   
      
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