Reduced environment planet-earth resulting from lockdowns amid the infectious-disease is reportedly linked to a lower incidence of heart-health” target=”_blank”>heart attacks< used the National Emergency Medical Service Information System database to determine the daily incidence of STEMIs – or ST-elevation myocardial infarctions, the most severe form of heart attack – between Jan. 1, 2019, and April 30, 2020.
US CITIES WITH WORST AIR POLLUTION RANKED: REPORT
The researchers also found the average daily concentrations of PM2.5 from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
PM2.5, or particulate matter under 2.5 micrometers in diameter, are released through disasters and the burning of environment-causing energy” target=”_blank”>fossil fuels<
The findings will be presented at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) virtual conference this month.
“This study highlights the importance of reducing air pollution, which could, in turn, prevent heart attacks,” Sidney Aung, a fourth-year medical student at UCSF, told the publication.
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“We also hope our study may influence other investigators to pursue similar research to corroborate these results or to investigate other forms of air pollutants outside of [PM2.5] that may have also declined during the pandemic lockdowns,” Aung said.
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Aung noted that other factors could have contributed to the reduced incidence of heart attacks during lockdowns, like staying indoors and reduced stress.
“However, given the previous studies that have linked increased PM2.5 to increased heart attacks, we believe that a reduction in [PM2.5] likely plays a large component in the observed reduction of heart attacks in our study,” Aung said.
According to the CDC, estimates that assume no change in regulatory controls or population characteristics have ranged from 1,000 to 4,300 additional premature deaths nationally per year by 2050 from combined ozone and particle health effects.
