Air pollution causes harmful physical changes in the brain

No one likes breathing polluted air. Exhaust fumes and particulate matter hanging in the air can make you cough and give you a headache. As NaturalNews has reported previously, it can harm your health in ways that aren't so obvious, as well. For example, Ohio State University researchers have found a direct link between air pollution and high blood pressure

Now comes information from another Ohio State University study that long-term exposure to air pollution can literally change your brain. And as you might expect, these physical changes in the brain are not beneficial. They are associated with learning and memory problems and even depression,

The new study, just published online in the journalMolecular Psychiatryis the first long-term research to show the negative impact of air pollution on the brain, according to Laura Fonken, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in neuroscience at Ohio State University."The results suggest prolonged exposure to polluted air can have visible, negative effects on the brain, which can lead to a variety of health problems, "Fonken said in a statement to the media.

In earlier studies in mice, researchers in Ohio State University's Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute (who also collaborated with Fonken and colleagues on the new research project) found that fine air particulate matter causes widespread inflammation in the body -- leading to a heightened risk for diabetes and obesity, as well as hypertension. Their extended research on air pollution's impact on the brain adds more disturbing evidence that bad air is bad for thinking, too.

 

"The more we learn about the health effects of prolonged exposure to air pollution, the more reasons there are to be concerned," stated Randy Nelson, co-author of the study and professor of neuroscience and psychology at Ohio State, in the press statement.

For the new study, lab mice were exposed five days a week to either filtered air or polluted air for six hours a day. The polluted air contained the same type of pollution created by cars, factories and natural dust and included very fine particulate matter -- particles so minute they are only about 1/30th of the average width of a human hair. Because of their small size, these particles can be inhaled deeply into the lungs and end up in other organs of the body.

The mice were exposed to an amount of polluted air equivalent to what people are exposed to in some polluted urban areas, according to the researchers. Then various behavioral tests were performed on the rodents after the animals spent 10 months regularly breathing either filtered or polluted air.

The results showed severe impairments in memory and learning in the pollution exposed animals. And mice exposed to the polluted air exhibited more depressive-like behaviors than did the mice that breathed the clean air. In addition, the polluted-air breathing mice showed signs of higher levels of anxiety-like behaviors in one specific test, but not in another.

So how could air pollution trigger changes in learning, memory and mood? To find out, the scientist focused on the hippocampus, the area of the brain associated with learning, memory and depression.

The results? The researchers found undeniable physical differences in the hippocampi of the mice who were exposed to polluted air compared to the animals who breathed clean air. Specifically, neurons (nerve cells) known as dendrites were clearly changed. Normally, dendrites have small projections growing off them, dubbed spines, which transmit signals from one neuron to another. But in the mice exposed to polluted air, there were shorter dendrites, fewer dendrite spikes and, overall, a reduction in the complexity of brain cells. And earlier research has shown that these types of changes are linked to decreased learning and memory abilities.

The research team found evidence that low-grade inflammation was evident in the hippocampus in the pollution exposed mice. That could have caused the brain changes. Inflammation-causing chemical messengers in the immune system known as cytokines were found to be more active in the hippocampus in the animals who breathed the polluted air.

"The hippocampus is particularly sensitive to damage caused by inflammation," Fonken said in the media statement. "We suspect that the systemic inflammation caused by breathing polluted air is being communicated to the central nervous system."

Although the new study involved mice and not humans, the scientists think the findings have profound implications for people exposed regularly to air pollution."This could have important and troubling implications for people who live and work in polluted urban areas around the world,"Fonken concluded.

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/032983_air_pollution_brain.html#ixzz1taBgSCEX

Creation of new technologies to protect environment

Nowadays, with the development of science and technology, an increasing number of issues have been brought to the world. The issue of environment becomes one of main problem in the world.

 It is obviouly that there is  a strategy which is the use of renewable energy technologies integrated into the modern cities, such as solar water heaters, electric vehicles and solar heating or cooling system. According to International Energy Agency, renewable energy technologies are beneficial for environment due to replacing non-renewable resources and can be often assembled relatively conveniently in response to changing demand. In recent, the reasons why solar energy is widespread and acts an obbligato role in modern cities is because there will never be scarce, it is free for all of users and the most important factor that solar energy is completely clean competing with non-renewable energy. International Energy Agency points out solar heating system can save 30 present of energy as well as expand more building’s space heating requirements comparing with conventional fuels machines. For example, most of public housing installed solar heating system replacing natural gas or oil heating systems in Canberra, Australia. It is reported that the appliance has achieved an energy efficiency by saving 200 Australian dollars per annum with an additional building cost of 600 Australian dollars.

 Therefore, the strategy, which involves significantly the long term development to environment and finite resources in the earth, can be seen as the most important strategy, as without it, the earth will be deteriorated environmentally and consumption of energy will be accelerated.

Fresh Air for our Life

Fresh Air for our Life

Fresh air seems to be a rare commodity these days. Air pollution permeates our atmosphere from the polar ice caps to the highest peaks, indoors and out. Air quality suffers most in big cities and industrial areas, but it's also suffering in rural and remote locations. There are things you can do to improve your air quality and steps you can take to return fresh air to your life. Raising your awareness is the first step in improving your quality of life with fresh air.

Fresh air is at a premium in many parts of the world. There are very few places in the world where you can get fresh, clean, and healthy air without any pollution. In fact, there may not even be one place if you really think about it. No matter where you live in the world, there are air pollution problems and this problem continues to make big impacts upon the environment in which we live and our lives. This air pollution problem is why people all over the world are trying to find ways to decrease air pollution so that they can make the air as fresh as possible. And the air quality problem is found indoors and out.

Fresh air is something that every person can benefit from. Your entire life and the lives of those who live around you could be greatly changed if we had fresh air. Our health problems that we take as normal would most likely decrease or go away. Fresh air would enable us to get more oxygen, too, which could help many of the mental conditions that we and our children deal with each and every day. All kinds of problems could be aided if we simply had more fresh air in our lives.


The really sad thing is that air pollution is harming us at work and even in our homes, where we feel the safest. Indoor air pollution has seen a steady increase over the last twenty years and some homes are even considered "sick", due to the amount of pollution that they have in them. In fact, statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have estimated that indoor air could possible be anywhere from two to ten times more polluted than the air outside. This has led to many homeowners and business-owners to install fresh air machines, air purifiers and air filters to help fight the pollution inside their homes.

The lack of fresh and clean air in the world most likely has a big impact upon the fact that the incidence of asthma has increased by more than 100% over the last twenty years. From infants to seniors, more and more people join the ranks of asthmatics daily. This has caused financial and health ramifications that are unbelievable, due to the costs of lost time at work or school, seeing a doctor, and getting medication to treat the asthma, allergies and illness. That is why it is so important for every single person in the world to learn more about how to decrease air pollution, so that they can have air that is as fresh and clean as possible.
Fresh air should be something that we are all concerned with. You know that feeling of breathing after a cleansing rain? What would it be like to be able to smell that fresh and clean smell each and everyday, even without rain? That is the goal of many regular people like you, along with environmental groups. If we would all just do 

Water can change everything

1. WATER FACTS:
• Water is the most common substance found on earth.
• Water is the only substance found naturally in three forms: solid, liquid, and gas.
• Eighty percent of the earth's surface is water.
• Ninety-seven percent of the earth's water is saltwater in oceans and seas. Of the 3% that is freshwater, only 1% is available for drinking - the remaining 2% is frozen in the polar ice caps.
• Water serves as nature's thermometer, helping to regulate the earth's temperature.
• Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, 0 degrees Celsius.
• Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, 100 degrees Celsius.
• Once evaporated, a water molecule spends ten days in the air.
• Forty trillion gallons of water a day are carried in the atmosphere across the United States.
• An acre of corn gives off 4,000 gallons of water per day in evaporation.
• Forty percent of the atmosphere's moisture falls as precipitation each day.
• One gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds; one cubic foot contains 7.84 gallons of water.
• People need about 2.5 quarts of water a day to maintain good health. A person can live without water for approximately one week, depending upon the conditions.
• While usage varies from community to community and person to person, on average, Americans use 183 gallons of water a day for cooking, washing, flushing, and watering purposes. The average family turns on the tap between 70 and 100 times daily.
• About 4,000 gallons of water are needed to grow one bushel of corn, 11,000 gallons to grow one bushel of wheat, and about 135,000 gallons to grow one ton of alfalfa.
• It takes about 1,000 gallons of water to grow the wheat to make a two pound loaf of bread, and about 120 gallons to produce one egg.
• About 1,400 gallons of water are used to produce a meal of a quarter- pound hamburger, an order of fries and a soft drink.
• It takes 39,000 gallons of water to produce the average domestic auto, including tires.
• Producing an average-size Sunday newspaper requires about 150 gallons of water.
• Water makes up almost two-thirds of the human body, and seventy percent of the brain.
• Four hundred gallons of water are recycled through our kidney each day.
• collected from  http://www.mamashealth.com/water/waterfacts.asp
2. POWER OF WATER:

• More then one million people do not have water to use.
• Unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation are two problems of a lot of people in many parts of the world. Because of these, people can face with serious diseases, such as cholera and debilitating diarrhoea. And the result is they may not work, go to school or look after their families