LOS ANGELES — Research led by the University of Southern California (USC) has found that air pollution increases the chance of elderly women developing Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. <br /> <br />The study suggests that older women who breathe particles from polluted air, such as car exhausts fumes, are at twice the risk of developing dementia, the Los Angeles Times reported. <br /> <br />Elderly women who carry the APOE4 gene and breathe heavy pollution have a much higher chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease, according to a news release on the University of Southern California website. APOE4 is a gene that increases the chance of developing Alzheimer’s. <br /> <br />“Although the link between air pollution and Alzheimer’s disease is a new scientific frontier, we now have evidence that air pollution, like tobacco, is dangerous to the aging brain,” study co-author Caleb Finch said. <br /> <br />The findings were published in the journal Translational Psychiatry.
