If you want to avoid getting dementia or Parkinson’s disease, get out of town. Literally.
A new scientific study in Canada has added to the growing body of data that people who live in polluted or urban settings, especially if they live near major roads and far away from any parks, may be at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s, other forms of dementia, Parkinson’s disease, or multiple sclerosis.
Researchers found “increasing patterns of associations” between living close to major roads and the so-called “hazard and odds of developing” non-Alzheimer’s dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis (peer-reviewed biomedical journal “Environmental Health.)
Living within 50 meters of a major road, or 150 meters of a highway, seem to be major risk factors, Brauer, a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia, confirmed to MarketWatch. The study found that people whose homes met those conditions 19% more likely to develop Alzheimer’s, 14% more likely to develop other forms of dementia, 7% more likely to develop Parkinson’s, and 25% more likely to get multiple sclerosis, he said.
The study was based on health and living data of 678,000 people in Vancouver, British Columbia from 1994 to 2003. Because British Columbia has near universal health care, researchers were able to get detailed health data for individuals, and compare it with data about exactly where they lived. Location information included estimates for traffic pollution and for the amount of green spaces in the neighborhood.
The latest study isn’t the first in recent years to find a connection between pollution, urban living, and neurological damage.