Research

Cardiovascular diseases confer major challenges globally in terms of public health, economic and social aspects. In the European Union, cardiovascular disease accounted for 1.7 million deaths in 2021, as well as the loss of 1.3 million working years. Among the various CVD, ischemic heart disease, most commonly caused by coronary artery disease, accounts for the highest percentage of mortality, being the cause of 34% of deaths in 2021.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia and environmental conditions are one of its risk factors. With the ever-increasing burden of air pollution and the concomitant rise in atrial fibrillation cases, understanding and addressing this nexus holds significant implications for both clinical management and public health interventions. The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between air pollution and the occurrence of atrial fibrillation episodes.

Exposure to air pollution is a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, which continue to remain the leading cause of death worldwide. Cardiovascular diseases also pose a significant public health challenge due to the substantial costs they generate. In this research, we want to analyze the short-term and long-term health effects of air pollution on the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events defined as an occurrence of NSTEMI, STEMI and cardiovascular mortality.

In recent years air pollution has become one of the most important nonclassical risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Guidelines suggest that high-risk patients should avoid regions with high air pollution levels, however, there is a lack of research conducted in areas with low or moderate air pollution concentrations. The aim of the study was to analyze the effects of air pollution on ischemic stroke incidence and identify the most vulnerable age and sex groups.

According to WHO reports, cardiovascular diseases are responsible for almost 18 million deaths worldwide annually. The harmful effect of air pollution on human health in highly polluted regions is well documented. However, Eastern Poland is a region with so-called “Polish smog” – air pollution causing exceptionally adverse cardiovascular effects. The aim of our study was to assess whether “Polish smog” has an impact on mortality due to cardiovascular diseases.

Air pollution is one of the leading environmental risk factors affecting the population worldwide. Studies so far mostly analyzed urban and industrial areas excluding smaller towns and villages due to a lack of monitoring stations and recognition of these areas as potentially free from pollution. Our analysis focuses on Eastern Poland, one of the poorest regions of the EU, with a population of nearly 8 million people with almost half living in rural areas. We investigate the impact of “Polish smog” a new type of air pollution which – due to its composition and the conditions in which it is formed – is characterized by extremely adverse cardiovascular health effects.

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death worldwide, with air pollution becoming a major environmental problem. According to the Global Burden of Disease 2019, air pollution causes around 6.7 million deaths annually, exceeding even that of tobacco smoking. Polish smog is a unique type of air pollution, mainly composed of particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which might have exceptionally adverse cardiovascular effects. In our latest study, we aimed to assess, whether Polish smog has a short-term effect on mortality due to acute coronary syndromes and ischemic stroke and identify the most vulnerable groups.

What are the main findings of our study?

Ambient air pollution is a well-known risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but data on its impact on stroke incidence, temporal variation, and mortality are limited. We aimed to investigate the association between short-term exposure to major air pollutants and incidences of stroke in north-eastern Poland. Our second purpose was to assess the association between incidence and mortality of stroke and the seasons, months, days of the week, and its correlation with particulate matters (PMs) concentrations. We analyzed 4838 patients between 2011 and 2020, 45.6% of whom were male, the average age was 74.3 years old. What were the results on air pollution and stroke incidence?

There is a lack of studies directly comparing the effect of air pollution on acute coronary syndrome (ACS) occurrence in industrial and non-industrial areas. Therefore, the study focused on a comparison of association of air pollution exposure with ACS in two cohorts of industrially different areas.

The detrimental influence of air pollution on mortality has been established in a series of studies. The majority of them were conducted in large, highly polluted cities-there is a lack of studies from small, relatively clean regions. The aim was to analyze the short-term impact of particulate matters (PMs) on mortality in north-eastern Poland. Time-stratified case-crossover design was performed for mortality in years 2008-2017.