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Air pollution directly linked to increased dementia risk

nature.com

71–80 of 138 posts

Re: Air pollution directly linked to increased dementia risk

#71
post #2

Therefore city dwellers are demented and rural dwellers aren't. (And this says nothing about the effects of noise pollution or aesthetic pollution) EDIT Oh come on, it's the obvious conclusion. So discuss already.

It depends. Pollution can be higher in the cities, or it can be higher in areas with high wildfire risk, or it can depend on specific geography which traps polluted air. You have to look at each case individually. For example, in my state there is a specific more rural area which has a high incidence if heating with wood stoves, and they have higher air pollution that other more urban areas. Another possibility is th…

There's a lot of interesting confounding factors from an air quality perspective wrt urban vs suburban vs rural. Leaf / lawn blowers. Driving vs walking/public transit. Ground level vs up high. Tradewinds (west coast vs east coast vs AZ dust storm / wildfires).

Re: Air pollution directly linked to increased dementia risk

#72

Dementia rates in Miami Dade are among the highest in the country while Utah is on the low end. What is striking is that Utah has worse air quality, which is a known risk factor, yet still shows lower prevalence. Why is that?

Life is psychologically worse in the cities.

I'd argue that's only true if you ignore loneliness in areas outside of cities. I would have a hard time living somewhere that I didn't run into people.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6179015/

Re: Air pollution directly linked to increased dementia risk

#73
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's imbecile for self-righteous people to not spare a few moments of patience to politely try to correct those who were exposed to wrong information that caters to their bias. It's almost guaranteed that you also believe some sort of ridiculous conspiracy or bias, just like everyone else. Maybe try listening to them. After all, scientists did switch from "global warming" to an unspecific term like "climate c…

I’ve spent decades. They’re imbeciles! By the way, it’s still global warming but that was causing some confusion to some people because the weather locally might be cooler, warmer, wetter, dryer, etc. Hence, climate change seems to better convey what people actually see. Should we review what climate scientists actually said in the 1970s next? What’s your favorite anecdotal (ie non science) story you go to?

You think 90% of the world cares to follow what scientists said in the 1970's? All they care about is "They said 'global warming', but now some news report it's actually colder, and I've heard several scientists give presentations that it's all fake and not true. They just want to push their green agenda and are part of a conspiracy to [something]. And btw the earth is actually flat. All those satellite images are CGG, says all the youtube videos I've watched. And yea, vaccines cause autism because I've read a bunch of blogs online proving it."

It's why governments try to curb online disinformation. Did you know conspiracy theories thrive among the less successful? Insulting them will only push them further away towards groups that gladly open their arms to them.

Re: Air pollution directly linked to increased dementia risk

#75
post #63
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, I think the wirecutter's quality for air purifiers is pretty bad, and likely more influenced by affiliate payments than science: https://dynomight.net/ikea-purifier/

I tried the cheap IKEA model and with my severe dust mite allergies the model was insufficient in comparison to calm my sixth sinus-bound sense. My main suspicion: In my last 3 abodes with pre-1955 construction in East Coast, the pre-filter on the top Wirecutter pick needs to be cleaned 3x per carbon filter replacement in order to reduce largest particle accumulation on the carbon or HEPA filters. The inexpensive IKE…

The ikea Fornuftig has a snap-on piece of cloth covered plastic that serves as a pre-filter, a replaceable particle filter, and a replaceable optional gas filter.

I've found that taking a shop vac and leaf blower to the pre-filter works quite well to get it clean.

That said, the Ikea air purifiers only make sense if you have a room that's about the right size for the Fornuftig. Their larger purifier is worse value, and you're better off looking at something like the Squair.

Re: Air pollution directly linked to increased dementia risk

#77
post #51

Dementia rates in Miami Dade are among the highest in the country while Utah is on the low end. What is striking is that Utah has worse air quality, which is a known risk factor, yet still shows lower prevalence. Why is that?

Gotta control for age. Even if air pollution is a major cause of dementia, the disease takes decades to appear. Utah has the highest birth rate and therefore the youngest population of the 50 states (median age 31.5 years). Florida is not the oldest state, but it's near the top (median age 42.7 years).

Dementia by state comparisons that look at prevalence above age 65 give the conclusion for Utah & Florida

Re: Air pollution directly linked to increased dementia risk

#78
post #50

This article repeats the common mistake of conflating correlations and causality. The main results are (1) that PM2.5 exposure is correlated with dementia in humans, (2) some experimental results with mice. This does not establish causality in humans. The paper is careful to stay juuuust on the right side of the line by carefully using "associated" in the right places. But the press release discards that pretense at…

Oh yeah, sure definitely it's just as likely that people predisposed to dementia move to places with high air pollution...

Re: Air pollution directly linked to increased dementia risk

#79
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve spent decades. They’re imbeciles! By the way, it’s still global warming but that was causing some confusion to some people because the weather locally might be cooler, warmer, wetter, dryer, etc. Hence, climate change seems to better convey what people actually see. Should we review what climate scientists actually said in the 1970s next? What’s your favorite anecdotal (ie non science) story you go to?

You think 90% of the world cares to follow what scientists said in the 1970's? All they care about is "They said 'global warming', but now some news report it's actually colder, and I've heard several scientists give presentations that it's all fake and not true. They just want to push their green agenda and are part of a conspiracy to [something]. And btw the earth is actually flat. All those satellite images are CG…

Did you know whether you are kind or insult them, you aren’t going to change their minds? The insult tends to leave a sting, and I’ve noticed people are less likely to add their misinformation the next time.

At any rate, is there any climate change belief that you would like to discuss?

Try to stay on topic. Digression is a common tactic. People quickly like to change the subject when they run into someone who knows why they are wrong.

Re: Air pollution directly linked to increased dementia risk

#80
post #50

This article repeats the common mistake of conflating correlations and causality. The main results are (1) that PM2.5 exposure is correlated with dementia in humans, (2) some experimental results with mice. This does not establish causality in humans. The paper is careful to stay juuuust on the right side of the line by carefully using "associated" in the right places. But the press release discards that pretense at…

Oh yeah, sure definitely it's just as likely that people predisposed to dementia move to places with high air pollution...

Another Red state theory about Blue cities ?
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