Air pollution likely to raise risk of dementia: study.

ISLAMABAD -- Air pollution is likely to increase the risk of developing dementia, a UK government research group has said.

The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants has published its findings after reviewing almost 70 studies that analysed how exposure to emissions affect the brain over time, The Guardian reported.

The 291-page report concludes that air pollution is likely to increase the risk of accelerated "cognitive decline" and of "developing dementia" in older people.

Experts believe this is due to the impact of pollutants entering the circulatory system, affecting blood flow to the brain.

The authors said: "The epidemiological evidence reviewed fairly consistently reports associations between chronic exposure to air pollution and reduced global cognition and impairment in visuospatial abilities as well as cognitive decline and increased risk of dementia.

Results are heterogeneous as regards to other cognitive domains such as executive function, attention, memory, language and mild cognitive impairment. The identified neuroimaging studies consistently report associations between...

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