Dataset Information

Outdoor Nighttime Light Exposure (Light Pollution) is Associated with Alzheimer's Disease.

ABSTRACT: Alzheimer's disease (AD) prevalence has increased in the last century which can be attributed to increased lifespan, but environment is also important. This study evaluated the relationship between outdoor nighttime light exposure and AD prevalence in the United States. Higher outdoor nighttime light was associated with higher prevalence of AD. While atrial fibrillation, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and stroke were associated more strongly with AD prevalence than nighttime light intensity, nighttime light was more strongly associated with AD prevalence than alcohol abuse, chronic kidney disease, depression, heart failure, and obesity. Startlingly, nighttime light exposure more strongly associated with AD prevalence in those under the age of 65 than any other disease factor examined. These data indicate a need to investigate how nighttime light exposure influences AD pathogenesis.

SUBMITTER: Voigt RM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10889016 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Outdoor Nighttime Light Exposure (Light Pollution) is Associated with Alzheimer's Disease.

Voigt Robin M RM Ouyang Bichun B Keshavarzian Ali A

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences 20240215

Alzheimer's disease (AD) prevalence has increased in the last century which can be attributed to increased lifespan, but environment is also important. This study evaluated the relationship between outdoor nighttime light exposure and AD prevalence in the United States. Higher outdoor nighttime light was associated with higher prevalence of AD. While atrial fibrillation, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and stroke were associated more strongly with AD prevalence than nighttime light inten ...[more]

PMID: 38405987

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Project description:ImportanceLight pollution's impact on human health is increasingly recognized, but its link to exudative age-related macular degeneration (EAMD) remains unclear.ObjectiveTo investigate the association between exposure to outdoor artificial light at night (OALAN) and the risk of incident EAMD.Design, setting, and participantsIn this nationwide population-based case-control study, all individuals 50 years or older with newly diagnosed EAMD between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2011, were identified with reference to the Korean National Health Insurance Service registration program database for rare and intractable diseases. Birth year- and sex-matched controls (with no EAMD diagnosis until 2020) were selected at a 1:30 ratio. Data were acquired from May 1 to December 31, 2021, and analyzed from June 1 to November 30, 2022.ExposuresMean levels of OALAN at participants' residential addresses during 2008 and 2009 were estimated using time-varying satellite data for a composite view of persistent nighttime illumination at an approximate scale of 1 km2.Main outcomes and measuresThe hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs of the association between residential OALAN and risk of incident EAMD were determined based on maximum likelihood estimation after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, and area-level risk factors (ie, nighttime traffic noise and particulate matter of aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm in each participant's administrative district of residence).ResultsA total of 126 418 participants were included in the analysis (mean [SD] age, 66.0 [7.9] years; 78 244 men [61.9%]). Of these, 4078 were patients with newly diagnosed EAMD and 122 340 were EAMD-free matched controls. In fully adjusted models, an IQR (55.8 nW/cm2/sr) increase in OALAN level was associated with an HR of 1.67 (95% CI, 1.56-1.78) for incident EAMD. The exposure-response curve demonstrated a nonlinear, concave upward slope becoming more pronounced at higher levels of light exposure (ie, at approximately 110 nW/cm2/sr). In a subgroup analysis, an IQR increase in OALAN was associated with increased risk of incident EAMD in urban areas (HR, 1.46 [95% CI, 1.33-1.61]) but not in rural areas (HR, 1.01 [95% CI, 0.84-1.22]).Conclusions and relevanceIn this nationwide population-based case-control study, higher levels of residential OALAN were associated with an increased risk of incident EAMD. Future studies with more detailed information on exposure, individual adaptive behaviors, and potential mediators are warranted.

Project description:ObjectivesSummarise studies of outdoor green space exposure and brain health measures related to Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD), and determine scientific gaps for future research.DesignRapid review of primary research studies.Methods and outcomesPubMed, Embase and Web of Science Core Collection were searched for articles meeting the criteria published on/before 13 February 2020. The review excluded papers not in English, focused on transient states (eg, mental fatigue) or not using individual-level measures of brain health (eg, average school test scores). Brain health measures of interest included cognitive function, clinical diagnosis of cognitive impairment/dementia/ADRD and brain biomarkers such as those from MRI, measures typically associated with ADRD risk and disease progression.ResultsTwenty-two papers were published from 2012 to 2020, 36% on <18 years old, 32% on 18-64 years old and 59% on ≥65 years old. Sixty-four per cent defined green space based on the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index ('greenness'/healthy vegetation) and 68% focused on cognitive measures of brain health (eg, memory). Seventeen studies (77%) found green space-brain health associations (14 positive, 4 inverse). Greater greenness/green space was positively associated various cognitive domains in 10 studies and with MRI outcomes (regional brain volumes, cortical thickness, amygdala integrity) in three studies. Greater neighbourhood greenness was associated with lower odds/risk of cognitive impairment/ADRD in some studies but increased odds/risk in others (n=4 studies).ConclusionsPublished studies suggest positive green space-brain health associations across the life course, but the methods and cohorts were limited and heterogeneous. Future research using racially/ethnically and geographically diverse cohorts, life course methods and more specific green space and brain health measures (eg, time spent in green spaces, ADRD biomarkers) will strengthen evidence for causal associations.

Project description:BackgroundHigher exposure to outdoor air pollution is associated with increased cardiopulmonary deaths, but there is limited evidence about the association between outdoor air pollution and diagnosed cardiovascular disease. Our study aimed to estimate the size of the association between long term exposure to outdoor air pollution and prevalent cardiovascular disease.MethodsWe carried out a cross-sectional analysis of data on more than 19,000 white adults aged 45 and older who participated in three representative surveys of the English population in 1994, 1998 and 2003, examining the relationship between self-reported doctor-diagnosed cardiovascular disease and exposure to outdoor air pollutants using multilevel regression techniques and meta-analysis.ResultsThe combined estimates suggested that an increase of 1 microg m-3 in concentration of particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter was associated with an increase of 2.9% (95% CI -0.6% to 6.5%) in prevalence of cardiovascular disease in men, and an increase of 1.6% (95%CI -2.1% to 5.5%) in women. The year-specific analyses showed strongly positive associations in 2003 between odds of cardiovascular disease in both men and women and exposure to particulate matter but not in 1994 or 1998. We found no consistent associations between exposure to gaseous air pollutants and doctor-diagnosed cardiovascular disease.ConclusionThe associations of prevalent cardiovascular disease with concentration of particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter, while only weakly positive, were consistent with the effects reported in cohort studies. The results provide evidence of the size of the association between particulate air pollution and the prevalence of cardiovascular disease but no evidence for an association with gaseous pollutants. We found strongly positive associations between particulate matter and cardiovascular disease in 2003 only, which highlights the importance of replicating findings in more than one population.

Dataset Information

Outdoor Nighttime Light Exposure (Light Pollution) is Associated with Alzheimer's Disease.

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Outdoor Nighttime Light Exposure (Light Pollution) is Associated with Alzheimer's Disease.

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