Han-Wei Zhang*, Victor C. Kok , Shu-Chun Chuang, Chun-Hung Tseng, Chin-Teng Lin , Tsai-Chung Li , Fung-Chang Sung, Chi P. Wen, Chao A. Hsiung and Chung Y. Hsu Pages 1276 - 1289 ( 14 )
<p>Background: Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia among the elderly, is a progressive and irreversible neurodegenerative disease. Exposure to air pollutants is known to have adverse effects on human health, however, little is known about hydrocarbons in the air that can trigger a dementia event. </P><P> Objective: We aimed to investigate whether long-term exposure to airborne hydrocarbons increases the risk of developing dementia. </P><P> Method: The present cohort study included 178,085 people aged 50 years and older in Taiwan. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to fit the multiple pollutant models for two targeted pollutants, including total hydrocarbons and non-methane hydrocarbons, and estimated the risk of dementia. </P><P> Results: Before controlling for multiple pollutants, hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals for the overall population were 7.63 (7.28-7.99, p <0.001) at a 0.51-ppm increases in total hydrocarbons, and 2.94 (2.82-3.05, p <0.001) at a 0.32-ppm increases in non-methane hydrocarbons. The highest adjusted hazard ratios for different multiple-pollutant models of each targeted pollutant were statistically significant (p <0.001) for all patients: 11.52 (10.86-12.24) for total hydrocarbons and 9.73 (9.18-10.32) for non-methane hydrocarbons. </P><P> Conclusion: Our findings suggest that total hydrocarbons and non-methane hydrocarbons may be contributing to dementia development.</p>
Alzheimer's disease, dementia, hydrocarbons, air pollution, environmental pollutants, population-based.
Program for Aging, China Medical University, Taichung, Disease Informatics Research Group, Asia University, Taichung, Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Department of Neurology, China Medical University Hospital, and School of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Brain Research Center, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Graduate Institute of Biostatistics, College of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung, Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science and School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Graduate Institute of Biomedical Science, China Medical University, Taichung