Environmental Effects On The Cardiovascular System

In the past few decades there has been an uprising in questions regarding environmental risk factors to the human health. With all the recent discussion about global warming and pollution, people want to know what in the environment is putting their lives at risk. Today, the amount of energy and fossil fuels burned in modern day Earth has made air pollution become a major concerning pathogen from the environment. Air pollution, or pollution in general, is a generally new topic of research for many. However, there has been enough evidence and consistency in researches on air pollution to show that it has significantly life-threatening effects on human health—especially the cardiovascular system. Evidence from research done in the United States

For example, smoking is also linked to cardiovascular disease. However, there is a greater risk of lung cancer from smoking than there is of cardiovascular disease (Pope III, 2015). To clarify, there is no disregard for the effects of smoking on the cardiovascular system, but there is simply a much prevailing effect of smoking on the lungs. When comparing to China, there is a lack of research that takes into consideration how smoking affects the same diseases which air pollutants do. However, there are other alternative factors which both the United States and China take into consideration. In the updated American Heart Association study of air pollution, Brook et al. (2010) found that the elderly, people with artery diseases, diabetics, women, and people with obesity are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, and exposure to air pollution can be the “trigger” for these individuals. China researchers have also studied the effects of gender and found slightly different results. Yang et al. (2016) found no conclusive evidence to show one gender being more susceptible to air pollution than the other—though men are more likely to be exposed to air pollution by their outdoor jobs, women are possibly more susceptible due to their smaller airways and better airway reactivity. In addition, China also studied the effects of different socioeconomic backgrounds by studying people’s level of education and how it relates to cardiovascular disease. Yang et al. (2016) were able to find evidence to show that lower educated people were more likely to have cardiovascular disease for several reasons including a higher likelihood of being exposed to air pollution. All things considered, both studies in the United States and China show the many alternative factors which can influence