[Article Review] Revealing the Hidden Impact of Air Pollution on Health and Intelligence: A Review

Reference

Landrigan, P. J., Fisher, S., Kenny, M. E., Gedeon, B., Bryan, L., Mu, J., & Bellinger, D. (2022). A replicable strategy for mapping air pollution’s community-level health impacts and catalyzing prevention. Environmental Health, 21(1), 70. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-022-00879-3

Review

In this groundbreaking study, Landrigan et al. (2022) propose a replicable strategy for mapping air pollution's health impacts at the community level in Massachusetts. They demonstrate that air pollution exposure levels below current EPA standards still result in significant disease, death, and IQ loss, especially in low-income, minority communities. The authors urge for tighter air quality standards and government-incentivized transitions to renewable energy sources.

The researchers utilized EPA's Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis (BenMAP-CE) software and state data to quantify the effects of PM2.5 pollution on disease, death, and children's cognitive function (IQ Loss) in Massachusetts. They found that the annual mean PM2.5 concentration in the state in 2019 was 6.3 μg/M3, which is below EPA's standard of 12 μg/M3 but above WHO's guideline of 5 μg/M3. PM2.5 pollution was responsible for an estimated 2780 deaths, 308 low-weight births, 15,386 asthma cases, and a provisionally estimated loss of nearly 2 million Performance IQ points.

The findings highlight the urgent need for policymakers to take action to tighten air quality standards and implement pollution prevention measures. The authors suggest that enduring prevention will require a government-incentivized transition to renewable energy coupled with phase-outs of subsidies and tax breaks for fossil fuels.

This study is an essential contribution to the growing body of evidence showing the detrimental effects of air pollution on health and cognitive function, even at levels below current regulatory standards. By providing a replicable strategy for mapping air pollution's community-level health impacts, the research offers a valuable tool for informing policy decisions and catalyzing change.

[Article Review] Mediterranean Diet and Cognitive Function: A Review on the Relationship with Brain Aging

Reference

Corley, J., Cox, S. R., Taylor, A. M., Hernandez, M. V., Maniega, S. M., Ballerini, L., Wiseman, S., Meijboom, R., Backhouse, E. V., Bastin, M. E., Wardlaw, J. M., & Deary, I. J. (2020). Dietary patterns, cognitive function, and structural neuroimaging measures of brain aging. Experimental Gerontology, 142, 111117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2020.111117

Review

This article by Corley et al. (2020) investigates the cross-sectional associations between dietary patterns, cognitive function, and neuroimaging measures of brain health in healthy older adults. The study used data from 511 participants in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936, with a mean age of 79.3 years. The researchers used principal component analysis of food frequency questionnaire items to identify two dietary patterns: a Mediterranean-style dietary pattern and a processed dietary pattern.

The Mediterranean-style dietary pattern was found to be associated with better verbal ability, while associations with global cognitive function, visuospatial ability, and memory did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. The processed dietary pattern was associated with lower cognitive scores, but these associations were attenuated after adjusting for prior childhood cognitive ability. The only remaining association was with verbal ability. Neither dietary pattern was found to be associated with brain volumes or white matter microstructure.

The authors concluded that adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet is associated with better cognitive functioning but not better brain structural integrity in older adults. Specific features of the Mediterranean diet, such as green leafy vegetables and a low intake of red meat, were found to be associated with better cognitive functioning.

This study provides valuable insights into the potential benefits of adhering to a Mediterranean-style diet for maintaining cognitive health in older adults. However, further research is needed to explore the potential mechanisms underlying these associations and to determine if these findings can be generalized to different populations.