Major highways pose a considerable risk to heart attack survivors living in close vicinity. Findings of the study, published in the May 7 issue of Circulation, report that researchers from the
The study demonstrated that the risk for heart attack survivors living within 100 meters (328 feet) or less from a roadway is 27% higher over a period of 10 years, as compared with those who live at least 1,000 meters away. This risk is reduced to 13% for survivors living between 200 and 1,000-meter (656 to 3,277-feet) from the roadway.
Murray Mittleman, MD, DrPH, a physician in the CardioVascular Institute at
"Living close to a highway is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes in those with underlying cardiac disease. Besides air pollution, exposure to noise could be a possible mechanism underlying this association."
Over a 10-year period, researchers from the Onset study that included 3,547 heart attack survivors in 64 community hospitals and tertiary care medical centers recorded 1,071 deaths, of which 63% were due to cardiovascular disease, whilst 12% died of cancer and 4% from respiratory disease. Factors including the deceased's personal, clinical and neighborhood-level characteristics, such as income and education were evaluated.
Mittleman says:
"People with lower levels of education and income are more likely to live in communities closer to a major roadway, so they are bearing a larger burden of the risk associated with exposure than people with more resources."
Mittleman led a study published earlier this year, which provided evidence that air pollution, even at levels generally deemed as safe according to federal regulations, increases the risk of stroke by 34%. His study furthermore revealed that exposure to ambient fine particulate matter, commonly from vehicle traffic, was linked to a considerably higher risk of ischemic strokes on days when the EPA's air quality index for particulate matter was yellow instead of green. These results offer new evidence that a higher mortality risk of patients with underlying cardiovascular disease is linked to long-term exposure to roadways.
Mittleman declares:
"Clinicians need to educate their patients on the risks posed by particulate matter pollution and encourage patients with cardiovascular disease to avoid unnecessary exposure to traffic. On a public policy level, city planners should consider locating housing developments away from the most heavily trafficked roadways."
Dan Costa, ScD, DABT, National Program Director for Air Climate & Energy Research in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development Research concludes:
"This study adds to the growing knowledge linking roadways and traffic to health problems, even death, especially among those with pre-existent disease - in this case a previous heart attack."
Article reference："Residential Proximity to Major Roadway and 10-Year All-Cause Mortality After Myocardial Infarction"