大気汚染はどのようにして心臓病につながるか？ How does air pollution lead to heart diseases?
2017年5月13日
今回の記事は「大気汚染はどのようにして心臓病につながるか？」という内容です。さていったいどのような内容なのでしょうか。
今回のポッドキャストです。お聴き下さい。
本日のSentence
These nanoparticles are mostly carbon compounds, and finding them inside carbon-based life forms like ourselves is extremely difficult.
これらのナノ粒子は主に炭素化合物で、私たちのような炭素系の生命体内でそれらを見つけることは極めて困難である。
cardiovascular=【形】心臓血管の、cardiovascular disease=心血管疾患
potential=【名】潜在力、可能性
particle=【名】粒子、小片
ボキャブラリー
| potential | noun | 可能性。将来に何かを開発または達成する可能性 |
|---|---|---|
| evade | verb | 逃れる。避ける |
| filter | noun | フィルタ。不要なものの侵入を阻止したり、取り除いたりするための装置やプログラム |
| premature | adj | 早すぎる、時期尚早な。予想された時間よりも早く起こっている |
| trigger | verb | を引き起こす。開始する、または始動する |
日本語訳
科学者達はナノ粒子としても知られている、汚染大気中の微小粒子が肺の保護のためのろ過機能をくぐり抜けて、体の深部で蓄積する可能性を示唆している。この発見は、なぜ大気汚染が心臓病や脳卒中のリスクを高めるのかを説明することが出来る。
大気汚染は心臓病や何百万の早死につながっている。これらの死亡のほとんどは、心血管疾患のリスクの上昇によるものだ。短期間に高濃度の汚染にさらされると、心臓発作や脳卒中が引き起こされる可能性がある。一方、長期間の大気汚染は血管損傷を引き起こす。
ナノ粒子が肺から血流に入り込む可能性は以前は分かっていなかった。これらのナノ粒子は主に炭素化合物で、私たちのような炭素系の生命体内でそれらを見つけることは極めて困難である。
参考動画
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記事の原文を掲載します
How does air pollution lead to heart diseases?Researchers at the University of Edinburgh and Universities in the Netherlands have finally unearthed the reason behind air pollution leading to heart diseases. Tiny particles, also known as nanoparticles, could potentially be so small that the body's filter system in the nose and lungs might prove incompetent to remove it. The particles could then build up in blood vessels and raise the risk of a heart disease.
Air pollution has been linked to heart diseases and premature deaths of millions. Most of these deaths are due to a heightened risk of cardiovascular disease, which means that being exposed to high pollution even for short periods can trigger heart attacks and strokes. On the other hand, long-term exposure causes vascular damage.
According to figures estimated by the government, air pollution, which has remained illegally high in 16 cities since 2010, is responsible for the premature deaths of about 40,000 Britons every year. And heart disease is considered Britain’s biggest killer, resulting in over 160,000 deaths each year.
The research team got 14 healthy volunteers and 12 surgical patients to inhale harmless nanoparticles of gold. Test results of on their blood and urine showed the nanoparticles in just 15 minutes of being inhaled, and they were still present up to three months later.
Even though it was suspected, the possibility of the nanoparticles to pass through the lungs into the bloodstream had never been proved. The nanoparticles of pollution are mostly carbon compounds, and finding them inside carbon-based life forms like ourselves is extremely tough.
In another experiment, researchers asked three patients, who had clogged-up blood vessels, to inhale air that contained tiny gold nanoparticles. A day later, a part of their damaged blood vessels surgically removed from the patients, there was evidence that gold had built up in the plagued parts of the blood vessels. Researchers speculate that by accumulating in vulnerable areas of the body, air pollution particles could worsen heart disease and stroke.
Gold nanoparticles are inert, but the reactive compounds found in air pollution can have various kinds of harmful effects. It includes impairing the contraction of blood vessels to promote clotting.
Diesel cars have been touted since the 1970s as an environment-friendly choice because they emit comparatively less carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which is responsible for global warming. Successive governments have put tax incentives on diesel cars, allowing drivers to pay less vehicle excise duty.
But scientists have realized in recent years that diesel does produce more of the nanoparticles and nitrogen oxides that are harmful to the human health.
Breathing in fumes from traffic exhaust has long been known to raise the risk of cardiovascular disease, but the reason has remained unclear. Another study in the US involving more than 6,500 adults, found it was because pollution reduces our beneficial cholesterol HDL (high-density lipoprotein) which is then unable to do its job of removing bad LDL (low-density lipoprotein) from the body.
Professor Jeremy Pearson, British Heart Foundation’s associate medical director, said the study added to the case for the Government to start taking steps to reduce air pollution. “There is no doubt that air pollution is a killer, and this study brings us a step closer to solving the mystery of how air pollution damages our cardiovascular health. More research is needed to pin down the mechanism and consolidate the evidence, but these results emphasize that we must do more to stop people dying needlessly from heart disease caused by air pollution. Crucially, individual avoidance of polluted areas is not a solution to the problem. The government must put forward bold measures to make all areas safe and protect the population from harm,” he added.
Some researchers still argue that the study has many pitfalls. It includes the fact that gold is much different from the chemistry of the tiny particles present in pollution. Chief of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Mike Hawes, said that the industry had invested billions in reducing emissions and had drastically reduced or banished pollutants such as particulates.
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