CardioExchange Archive

AHA Scientific Statement on Air Pollution: The American Heart Association has strengthened its position on air pollution. In an update to a 2004 scientific statement, the new statement, “Particulate Matter Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease,” finds greater evidence linking air pollution to CV disease and reaches several new conclusions, including:

Even brief exposure over hours or weeks to PM (particulate matter <2.5 µm in diameter) can trigger CV events.
Long-term exposure increases this risk and can reduce life expectancy “by several months to a few years.”
Reducing PM levels can cut CV mortality in as soon as a few years.
New evidence strengthens the “biological plausibility to these findings.”
PM exposure “is deemed a modifiable factor that contributes to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.”

Bran Linked to Reduced Mortality Risk in Diabetic Women: Among 7,822 diabetic women in the Nurses’ Health Study, those in the highest fifth for whole grain and bran consumption had a 16%-31% lower risk of all-cause mortality, compared with those in the lowest fifth. The benefits of bran remained significant after adjustment for lifestyle and dietary risk factors. In their paper in Circulation, Lu Qi and colleagues write that their “findings suggest that low whole-grain intake may be considered an important modifiable risk factor for decreasing mortality and cardiovascular risk in diabetic patients.”