Why does it matter?
Given that air pollution is already established as undesirable for many reasons, including its negative impact on health, why is it important to study the link to dementia?
There are currently 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK. With that number set to rise to over one million by 2025, it is more important than ever that we understand factors that increase risk and find ways to limit their effects.
If research can demonstrate that air pollution does directly cause damage or changes to the brain that result in dementia it could be possible to develop new ways to block or limit these effects. This could potentially result in a significant reduction in the number of new cases of dementia.
What needs to be done?
It is clear that more research is required to understand exactly how air pollution affects our bodies and brains. However, there is no reason to delay taking action at a personal and a political level.
The World Health Organisation estimates that a staggering 91 per cent of the global population live in areas where the level of air pollution exceeds the recommended limits 2.
While in the UK, the government’s most recent Clean Air Strategy proposes to reduce particulate matter (2.5) by 46 per cent, nitric oxide by 73 per cent, sulphur dioxide by 88 per cent, ammonia by 16 per cent and non-methane volatile organic compounds such as benzene and formaldehyde by 39 per cent by 2030. They propose that this will be achieved through enforcement of legislation addressing both national and local sources of pollution.
