Air Pollution May Cancel out Benefits of Exercise on Brain Health

Photo by Photoholgic on Unsplash

The study of more than 8,000 people also shows that air pollution is associated with a decrease in brain volume and health.

“This study shows that air pollution is associated with worse brain health, including white matter lesions, which are linked with increased risk of stroke and neurodegenerative disease,” says Melissa Furlong, an assistant professor in the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

“We observed that the benefits of physical activity on white matter lesions in the brain significantly diminished as air pollution increased, so that there was no benefit of physical activity on these white matter lesions for people in areas with the highest levels of air pollution. This new analysis underscores the importance of re-evaluating emissions standards, since even low levels of air pollution can affect the brain.”

Previous studies have shown that physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of dementia and enhances cognition and structural brain volumes, while air pollution is associated with higher risk of dementia, poorer cognition, and adverse effects on brain volumes.

The new study, published in the journal Neurology, investigated how the negative brain health effects of air pollution affect the benefits of exercise on brain health.

“We are increasingly recognizing the importance of exercise as a modifiable lifestyle factor that can reduce the effects of brain aging and the risk for Alzheimer’s disease,” says coauthor Gene Alexander, professor of psychology. “These findings suggest that we may need to consider how and where we exercise to gain the most brain benefits.”

The study used data from the UK Biobank, a biomedical database and research resource containing genetic, lifestyle, and health information from half a million participants in the United Kingdom.

Physical activity was measured with wrist-worn accelerometers, and the researchers calculated each participant’s amount of time spent in vigorous activity.

Researchers measured brain structure using MRI, and evaluated the total volumes of gray matter, white matter, and white matter hyperintensities (lesions). The researchers categorized air pollution exposure into four groups from lowest to highest pollution levels. The annual average air pollution levels were low and generally within the standards set by the European Union.

“More research is needed, but if our findings are replicated, public policy could be used to address people’s exposure to air pollution during exercise,” says David Raichlen, senior author and a professor at the University of Southern California.

“For example, since a significant amount of air pollution comes from traffic, promoting running or bicycling along paths far from heavy traffic may be more beneficial.”

The National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, divisions of the National Institutes of Health, funded the work.

This article was originally published by University of Arizona. Republished via Futurity.org under Creative Commons License 4.0.