A study by the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) concluded that pollutants influence the increase in hospitalizations of patients with neurodegenerative diseases, one of the researchers summarized this Wednesday, calling for immediate action by public entities. .
“Age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, injuries, tumors, smoking and alcohol consumption are the most common risk factors for neurodegenerative diseases. The influence of environmental factors is little known, but it exists,” highlighted researcher Mariana Ramos Oliveira.
Coordinated by FMUP professor Hernâni Gonçalves, this The work drew a map that crosses the concentrations of pollutants with the incidence and geography of neurodegenerative diseasessuch as dementia (including Alzheimer’s), Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, characterized by a progressive decline in brain function.
The researcher explained to Lusa how her team came to the conclusion that exposure to pollutants has an impact on neurodegenerative diseases, after analyzing data from More than 500 thousand hospitalizations in public hospitals in Portugal continental between 2000 and 2016 and satellite and meteorological station data.
“There are significant correlations between hospitalizations of people with neurodegenerative diseases and virtually all environmental variables,” he said.
The variables with the greatest impact are nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and the particles with a diameter less than 10 µm (PM10).
The main source of these pollutants is the burning of fossil fuels, such as gasoline and diesel.
This relationship can be explained by the effects of pollutants on the central nervous system, causing inflammation, toxicity, oxidative stress and injuries.
The highest rates of hospitalizations were recorded in the districts of Bragança and Braga, and the lowest in Beja and Viana do Castelo.
Regarding contaminants, an analysis of groupsand not by district or municipality, and it was detected that pollutants such as benzene (C6H6) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) have higher values in the North area (Porto, Bragança and Viana do Castelo) and in the Lisbon area.
This, the researcher safeguarded, does not necessarily mean that these are the areas with the highest index of contaminants, only that they have higher indexes than the towns that surround them.
With this study, funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), the researchers want increase public awareness of the role of the environment and help authorities and healthcare professionals predict where patients are most at risk of developing these diseases.
“It is necessary to pay attention to places that have peaks or higher levels of contamination to more closely monitor people suffering from these diseases,” summarized Mariana Ramos Oliveira.
In a summary sent to Lusa, the FMUP states that “the conclusions of this research suggest that “correlating the geography of hospitalizations and contaminant levels could help, in the future, to plan public health interventions and policies,” especially because “More and more studies consider that excessive levels of environmental contaminants affect more than 90% of the world’s population.”
At the same time, the team conducted two literature reviews, meaning they consulted international studies showing that the impact of environmental factors is being felt around the world.
“It’s scary, but very interesting. 35 studies were found until 2022. Between 2022 and 2024 there were 34. Therefore, there was a boom A large number of researchers have realized that it is necessary to make this warning. There are environmental factors that are causing more diseases,” he concluded.
In addition to Mariana Ramos Oliveira and Hernâni Gonçalves, the team brought together Alberto Freitas, also from FMUP, and Ana Cláudia Teodoro, from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto.
Source: Observadora
