Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Sydney, Australia.
Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Bioessays. 2021 Sep;43(9):e2100046. doi: 10.1002/bies.202100046. Epub 2021 Jun 9.
Air pollution is a major global challenge for a multitude of reasons. As a specific concern, there is now compelling evidence demonstrating a causal relationship between exposure to airborne pollutants and the onset of cardiovascular disease (CVD). As such, reducing air pollution as a means to decrease cardiovascular morbidity and mortality should be a global health priority. This review provides an overview of the cardiovascular effects of air pollution and uses two major events of 2020-the Australian bushfires and COVID-19 pandemic lockdown-to illustrate the relationship between air pollution and CVD. The bushfires highlight the substantial human and economic costs associated with elevations in air pollution. Conversely, the COVID-19-related lockdowns demonstrated that stringent measures are effective at reducing airborne pollutants, which in turn resulted in a potential reduction in cardiovascular events. Perhaps one positive to come out of 2020 will be the recognition that tough measures are effective at reducing air pollution and that these measures have the potential to stop thousands of deaths from CVD.
空气污染是一个全球性的重大挑战，原因有很多。具体而言，现在有令人信服的证据表明，暴露于空气中的污染物与心血管疾病（CVD）的发病之间存在因果关系。因此，减少空气污染作为降低心血管发病率和死亡率的一种手段应该成为全球卫生的重点。本综述概述了空气污染对心血管的影响，并利用 2020 年的两大事件——澳大利亚丛林大火和 COVID-19 大流行封锁——来说明空气污染与 CVD 之间的关系。丛林大火突显了空气污染升高所带来的巨大的人员和经济代价。相反，与 COVID-19 相关的封锁表明，严格的措施可有效降低空气中的污染物，进而可能减少心血管事件的发生。2020 年的一个积极成果可能是人们认识到，采取严厉措施可有效减少空气污染，而这些措施有可能阻止数千人死于 CVD。
