A large study found that greater exposure to long-term air pollution was linked with increased risks for blood clots that can occur in deep veins, which, if untreated, can block blood flow and cause serious complications, even death.
A large study found that greater exposure to long-term air pollution was linked with increased risks for blood clots that can occur in deep veins, which, if untreated, can block blood flow and cause serious complications, even death.
These findings came from a longitudinal study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that included 6,651 U.S. adults who were followed for an average of 17 years between 2000 and 2018. Participants lived in or near one of six major metropolitan areas: New York, Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Throughout the study, 248 adults, 3.7% of the study sample, developed blood clots in deep veins that required hospital care. The likelihood of this outcome was linked to anywhere from a 39% to a more than two-fold increased risk based on long-term exposure to three different types of air pollutants.
Blood clots in deep veins, collectively known as venous thromboembolism (VTE), include deep vein thrombosis, which occurs when a blood clot forms in a deep vein of the legs, arms, or an internal organ, and pulmonary embolism, which occurs when a blood clot breaks off from a deep vein and travels to the lungs.
Read more at NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
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