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A recent study conducted by Chinese researchers suggests that patients with heart problems could benefit immensely from owning an indoor air purifier. Not only that but it may also help prevent healthy friends and relatives from developing various heart conditions.
Dr. Sanjay Rajagopalan, co-author and cardiologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, has concluded that while researchers can’t say with 100 percent (100%) certainty that air purifiers can prevent patients from having heart attacks, strokes or suffering from any other major heart problems, young adults tested in the study did in fact experience a reduction in cardiovascular events.
He gave a statement saying that “In countries of the world where air pollution is a problem, I think this would be especially important” for protecting people’s health. The fact that the study took place in China is no coincidence, as the country is one of the most affected by pollution in the world.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that currently a reasonable level of air pollution is about 35 micrograms of harmful particles per cubic meter, but in many major cities in Asia daily air pollution often exceeds 100 to 500 micrograms per cubic meter.
The team decided to start their research after first examining previous studies that claimed heart related problems are caused at least in part by the these exact particles found in polluted air.
In order to prove the value that indoor air purifiers have, Renjie Chen and Ang Zhao and their colleagues from Fudan University in Shanghai recruited 35 healthy college students and randomly gave each of them either a real air purifier or a fake one. They asked the students to use them for 48 hours in their dorm rooms.
As a measure of control, two (2) weeks later, the researchers had the students use whichever one of the two they hadn’t previously used. This also lasted for 48 hours.
The researchers found that the students who had received real indoor air purifiers had reduced air pollution in their rooms by 57 percent (57%). The harmful particles dropped from roughly 96 micrograms per cubic meter to about 41 micrograms per cubic meter.
As a direct result of the better quality of the air in their rooms, the students’ inflammation and blood clotting, as well as their blood pressure readings also showed signs of improvement.
There is however one questionable result. As of right now, the team if researchers are not sure whether or not the improvements they saw in lung function and blood vessel constriction are a direct result of the cleaner air or if they simply happened by chance.
Latter on, Dr. Rachel Taliercio, a lung specialist in The Cleveland Clinic’s Asthma Center in Ohio who was not involved in the study, offered her thoughts, saying that indoor air purifiers may not be the answer for everyone. She admitted that there are some real, undeniable befits to bringing one home, but also stressed that it’s not quite clear yet just how big those benefits are who they may benefit.
She offered North America as an example, informing that the levels of pollution in the US are much lower than those in China, and thus it is impossible to know if indoor air purifiers would have the same value for US citizens.
Image Source: tuvie.com
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