Outdoor Light at Night, Air Pollution Linked to Cerebrovascular Disease

TUESDAY, March 26, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Outdoor light at night (LAN) and air pollution are associated with the risk for cerebrovascular disease (CeVD), according to a study published in the April issue of Stroke.

Yohghao Wu, from the Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Hangzhou, China, and colleagues examined the associations of outdoor LAN and air pollution with the risk for CeVD among 28,302 participants enrolled from 2015 to 2018. Satellite-derived images and land-use regression models were used to assess outdoor LAN and air pollution.

During 127,877 person-years of follow-up, the researchers identified 1,278 CeVD cases (777 ischemic and 133 hemorrhagic stroke cases). In the single-exposure models, the hazard ratios for CeVD were 1.17, 1.25, 1.14, and 1.21, respectively, for outdoor LAN, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 µm, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤10 µm, and NO₂ in every interquartile range increase. Similar results were seen for ischemic stroke, but there were no associations observed for hemorrhagic stroke. The association of outdoor LAN and particulate matter with CeVD persisted in the multiple-exposure models, but not for ischemic stroke. No interaction was seen between outdoor LAN and air pollution on the risk for CeVD.

“These findings could support the existing evidence on the harmful effects of outdoor LAN and air pollution and point out that outdoor LAN might be an emerging risk factor for CeVD,” the authors write.

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