New study shows air pollution increases inflammation in Utahns with heart disease

SALT LAKE CITY – A new study shows that air pollution from winter inversions and summer wildfires can seriously harm Utahns with heart problems.

Intermountain Health researchers found it increases inflammation in people with heart disease.

“We performed a study previously looking at 115 biomarkers of inflammation in people with heart failure and people who are free of heart disease, and we expanded on that study here by linking in information about the air pollution levels of PM 2.5 particulate matter,” Dr. Benjamin Horne, principal investigator, said.

Researchers found two biomarkers were elevated on days when air pollution was high. Horne said the pollution levels during the study were comparable to those on Monday.

Horne said this proves the bodies of heart disease patients can’t adapt as well to changes in our environment. These spikes in inflammation can happen now during inversion season or in the summer when we’re exposed to wildfire smoke.

“It’s concerning and people should be careful about their exposures,” he said.

Horne suggested that people who fall into this group be mindful of how much they’re exposed to the haze.

“If you have to go outside, go outside in the early morning before everyone is rushing to work and so forth,” he said.

He said spending time in cleaner air helps.

“Freestanding HEPA filters are one thing that people can consider,” Horne said.

Or, they can escape to higher elevations. The researcher said to take it seriously if there’s trouble breathing, having chest pains, and to be consistent with prescriptions.

“A little nudge to make sure that they’re taking the medicines that they’ve been prescribed because medicines will work to help their body maintain its stability,” Horne said.

He said previous research showed that people come to the hospital with a heart attack or serious chest pain more frequently when pollution levels are high.

“What we found, though, in that population was that you had to have existing underlying coronary disease where your arteries of your heart were narrowed already, in order to have that heart attack provoked. And so this air pollution appeared to be causing an influx inflammation in the arteries, which led to the coronary disease that was present, having some clotting occur and the blood flow being stopped so it couldn’t get to the heart. And then the heart muscle dying, which is a heart attack,” he said.

This study shows inflammatory biomarkers are elevated for people with heart failure, which is different from a heart attack. But he said an increase in the biomarkers leads to more heart problems, which could lead to an attack.

He recommended that people with heart disease be mindful about their exposure.

“It’s not something to panic about and there are times where we can’t avoid being exposed so we just have to accept that we live in a time and an area where we might be exposed to the air pollution and we just have to go forward, and not be worried about it so much that we don’t go out of the house ever,” Horne said.