Air filtration shown to reduce inflammatory factors.

Canadian researchers have found that the use of high-efficiency portable air (HEPA) filters modestly improved the function of human endothelial cells and lowered C-reactive protein concentrations. Both these results potentially could improve heart health. The study was done in a small town heavily affected by wood-burning particulates. Authors suggest that their findings are very subtle, but might indicate serious effects over the long term.

PositiveTip: Breathing clean air is important, and avoiding tobacco smoke is the best way of cleaning up what you breathe.

Air Pollution and Smoking: Kissing Cousins!

There is significant controversy about the level of fine particulate matter (FPM) that elevates risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Epidemiologists studied prospective data during a follow-up study of more than a million adults and found that CVD mortality risk increased by 64% in those who smoked three or fewer cigarettes per day and doubled in those who smoked a pack or more per day. Even those who were exposed to relatively low levels of FPM from second hand smoke or air pollution had substantially higher CVD mortality risk. Recent estimates in urban areas of China and India show FPM levels in excess of 100 mmg/m3 which is comparable to an active smoker's exposure of FPM (compare this to US urban levels of 10-24 mmg/m3).