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Short-term PM2.5 raises deaths and Parkinson’s admissions

Zanobetti A, Dominici F, Wang Y, et al. · Environmental health : a global access science source · 2014

Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC

Two-day average PM2.5 is linked to higher all-cause mortality and to hospital admissions for Parkinson’s disease and diabetes among US Medicare enrollees.

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Short-term PM2.5 raises deaths and Parkinson’s admissions

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6,982,678 deaths among Medicare enrollees in 121 US communities, 1999–2010

From the Medicare beneficiary denominator file we selected 6,982,678 deaths among all Medicare enrollees during the period 1999 to 2010 in 121 US communities.

Did prior neurological hospitalization significantly modify mortality risk?

While those risks were not significantly higher than the mortality risk associated with short-term effect of PM 2.5 among then Medicare enrollees that were never hospitalized for any of these diseases, there was a pattern of higher estimates.
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Key findings

Each 10 μg/m³ two-day PM2.5 raised all-cause mortality 0.64%. Admissions rose 3.23% for Parkinson’s disease and 1.14% for diabetes. Mortality estimates were larger, though not significantly so, among people with prior diabetes, Parkinson’s, dementia, or Alzheimer’s admissions. Effects appeared at lag 0 and lasted 2–3 days.

Methodology

Authors used a multi-city case-crossover of Medicare deaths and emergency hospitalizations (1999–2010) in 121 US communities, relating the two-day average of PM2.5 to all-cause mortality and to admissions for diabetes and neurological disorders.

Limitations

Medicare captures only hospitalized neurological disease, so milder dementia is missed. Differences versus people never hospitalized for these conditions were not statistically significant. The study does not prove particles enter the brain or cause disease onset.

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