What does every person need in order to be happy, calm and satisfied with life? Perhaps the answer here may be obvious: each of us needs health, money and a satisfied need for recognition and love. Well, if scientists are unlikely to be able to help you with money and the need for recognition, then in order to protect your mental health, researchers have conducted a series of experiments concerning diseases of the psyche and nervous system.
How can environmental pollution affect the nervous system?
Despite the fact that most modern countries are becoming wealthier, and the financial condition of their inhabitants is growing steadily, cases of depression and mental illness relentlessly follow the person. However, the richer a country becomes, the more often green spaces and air quality are at risk. Scientists have long found that having access to a park or water body significantly reduces nervous tension, allowing a person to lead a healthier and more positive life. In addition, the link between child mortality and respiratory disease is also well known, as according to the World Health Organization, about 7 million people die every year due to air pollution.
According to the results of studies carried out in various countries of the world, it was found that changes in air quality in the place of residence of people are directly related to changes in their psyche. Air pollution on the roads is often associated with dementia, delinquent behavior in adolescents, and delayed brain development in children who go to school in polluted air.
Mental illnesses can be associated with poor environmental conditions.
A study in China found that older people living in polluted environments for long periods of time often complain of a reduced ability to remember new information. Researchers believe that brain cells affected by contamination can gradually lose their natural cognitive abilities. In addition, men and women with low levels of education are particularly at risk, although the reason for this is currently unknown.
According to experts, air pollution damages the brains of both humans and animals with equal success. In those animals that were exposed to severe air pollution for several months, there was a significant decrease in brain function and inflammatory reactions in its main areas. This means that brain tissue changes in response to noxious stimuli caused by pollution.
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Air pollution can cause not only depression but also neurodegenerative diseases.
Repeated inhalation of nanoparticles found in polluted air can have a number of negative effects on the brain, including chronic inflammation of the nerve cells in the brain. The presence of iron in polluted air can only speed up this process. Magnetite nanoparticles can increase the toxicity of abnormal proteins found in the center of plaques, as confirmed by postmortem analysis of the brains of patients with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Daria Eletskaya