Taking a stand against air pollution – The impact on cardiovascular disease: A joint opinion from the World Heart Federation, American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and the European Society of Cardiology

Michael Brauer, Barbara Casadei, Robert Harrington, Richard Kovács, Karen Sliwa, Mark R Miller

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Although the attention of the world and the global health community specifically is deservedly focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, other determinants of health continue to have large impacts and may also interact with COVID-19. Air pollution is one crucial example. Established evidence from other respiratory viruses and emerging evidence for COVID-19 specifically indicates that air pollution alters respiratory defense mechanisms leading to worsened infection severity. Air pollution also contributes to co-morbidities that are known to worsen outcomes amongst those infected with COVID-19, and air pollution may also enhance infection transmission due to its impact on more frequent coughing. Yet despite the massive disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are reasons for optimism: broad societal lockdowns have shown us a glimpse of what a future with strong air pollution measures could yield. Thus, the urgency to combat air pollution is not diminished, but instead heightened in the context of the pandemic.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1460–1463
Number of pages4
JournalEuropean Heart Journal
Volume42
Issue number15
Early online date28 Jan 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Apr 2021

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • air pollution
  • cardiovascular disease
  • CVD
  • environmental health impacts
  • climate

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Taking a stand against air pollution – The impact on cardiovascular disease: A joint opinion from the World Heart Federation, American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and the European Society of Cardiology'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this