UBC study links living near highways to risk of neurological disorders
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Re: UBC study links living near highways to risk of neurological disorders
#2Is it not also likely proximity to green plants reduces stress, and blood pressure? And mood improvement might shave years off exposure of risk to Parkinson's insidious side effects on mood leading to later or post death (postmortem exam) diagnosis.
Re: UBC study links living near highways to risk of neurological disorders
#3I should probably just read the study but I wonder if it controls for varying levels of income
Re: UBC study links living near highways to risk of neurological disorders
#4> Living near a major road or highway was associated with a 14-per-cent risk for dementia, and seven per cent for Parkinson’s disease.
I love how the article completely misses the important data point: what are the actual risks for other categories not living next to highways? Without this information, an "increased risk" is meaningless speculation.
Re: UBC study links living near highways to risk of neurological disorders
#5> Living near a major road or highway was associated with a 14-per-cent risk for dementia, and seven per cent for Parkinson’s disease. I love how the article completely misses the important data point: what are the actual risks for other categories not living next to highways? Without this information, an "increased risk" is meaningless speculation.
I'm guessing that's just ambiguous grammar. "associated with a 14% risk for dementia" as in "14 percent higher than expected."
I say that because the risk of dementia is a lot higher than 14%.
Re: UBC study links living near highways to risk of neurological disorders
#6I should probably just read the study but I wonder if it controls for varying levels of income
They approximated income, education, and ethnicity at the neighborhood-level (400-600 people) based on census data. That doesn't seem granular enough to me if the poorest families in each neighborhood live closest to the major roads.
Re: UBC study links living near highways to risk of neurological disorders
#7Is it not also likely proximity to green plants reduces stress, and blood pressure? And mood improvement might shave years off exposure of risk to Parkinson's insidious side effects on mood leading to later or post death (postmortem exam) diagnosis.
While green plants may reduce stress, I don't think their absence can explain the effect observed here. Exposure to aircraft noise during sleep has been documented to cause endothelial dysfunction [0], which increases oxidative stress [1]. I think it sounds very plausible that increased oxidative stress over a prolonged period can cause neurological problems.
Re: UBC study links living near highways to risk of neurological disorders
#8I should probably just read the study but I wonder if it controls for varying levels of income
They approximated income, education, and ethnicity at the neighborhood-level (400-600 people) based on census data. That doesn't seem granular enough to me if the poorest families in each neighborhood live closest to the major roads.
I’ve seen similar studies done in the U.K., where in cities plenty of relatively affluent people live directly on very congested, polluted roads, and the findings were identical. IIRC they found the worst effects were on people who had been living there for 40+ years - and speculated that that was down to lead exposure until TEL was banned - however the impacts of contemporary pollutants was still significant.
Re: UBC study links living near highways to risk of neurological disorders
#9Is it not also likely proximity to green plants reduces stress, and blood pressure? And mood improvement might shave years off exposure of risk to Parkinson's insidious side effects on mood leading to later or post death (postmortem exam) diagnosis.
While green plants may reduce stress, I don't think their absence can explain the effect observed here. Exposure to aircraft noise during sleep has been documented to cause endothelial dysfunction [0], which increases oxidative stress [1]. I think it sounds very plausible that increased oxidative stress over a prolonged period can cause neurological problems. [0] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3844151/…
Rught, but thats not no2 or pm10 inhalation.
Re: UBC study links living near highways to risk of neurological disorders
#10[deleted]