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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Ian Sample Science editor

Air pollution can drive devastating forms of dementia, research suggests

People walk over a bridge in smog on the outskirts of Delhi, India
Scientists are calling for a concerted effort to improve air quality by cutting emissions from industry and vehicle exhausts. Photograph: Rajat Gupta/EPA

Fine-particulate air pollution can drive devastating forms of dementia by triggering the formation of toxic clumps of protein that destroy nerve cells as they spread through the brain, research suggests.

Exposure to the airborne particles causes proteins in the brain to misfold into the clumps, which are hallmarks of Lewy body dementia, the third most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

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