Pollution increases risk of developing autoimmune disease
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
It is already known that air pollution can cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems. Now, new studies have shown that particulate pollutants also increase risk of autoimmune diseases - disorders that appear when the defense cells act against the body.
A recent study by the School of Public Health Harvard noted that exposure to pollutants from roads increases the incidence of rheumatoid arthritis.
The researchers used data from the Nurses Health Study, a study with 200 thousand nurses that began in 1976 and up data on health and disease in participants.
For this work, we considered information from 90,297 women. After evaluating the information, it was found that living within 50 meters of legal traffic increased from 31% to 63% the chances of women developing rheumatoid arthritis.
We excluded variables such as smoking, use of hormones, body mass index and sedentary lifestyle.
Rheumatoid arthritis triggers inflammation in joints, particularly in the feet and hands. This can cause deformation and loss of movement in the affected region.
Researchers believe that the pollutants act as aggressors, and the body does not recognize them as a substance itself. Thus, the body reacts by producing antibodies to fight them. When it does so in an uncontrolled way, just fighting cells of the body.
"There are editorials of scientific journals of recognized prestige with evidence that pollution can affect the immune system. This is especially true in the case of solvents and diesel exhaust," says the pathologist Paulo Saldiva, coordinator of the National Integrated Risk Analysis Environmental USP (Universidade de Sao Paulo).
Besides rheumatoid arthritis, you can associate the inhalation of pollutants on other autoimmune diseases such as chronic autoimmune thyroiditis, lupus erythematosus, Sjogren's syndrome, vitiligo and multiple sclerosis, adds Angela Zaccarelli endocrinologist Maria Marino, a professor at Harvard Medical ABC .
Industrial pollution
Marino conducts research in the Petrochemical Capoava, which lies between the cities of Santo Andre and Maua Park and San Rafael (east of Sao Paulo). The area brings together manufacturers of chemicals derived from petroleum, which are the raw material resins, rubber, paints and plastics. "We studied pollution from industry. Autoimmune diseases are very common near the industries: the closer the person lives, the greater the risk of problems," he said.
The work was conducted with 2004 residents. It was found that those who live in the polluted area has five times more likely to suffer from chronic autoimmune thyroiditis.
It occurs as the antibodies act against the thyroid, which can lead to inflammation of the gland and the fall in hormone production (hypothyroidism).
Still can not define, however, that air pollutants are responsible for causing such problems.
"We will now begin to study agents that cause these diseases to be aware. We can choose to water, food, but not the air we breathe. The air must be filtered to prevent new cases," says Marino.
Source: Idec
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
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