A Zanobetti

..In general, the effect modification appeared modest compared with other reports of substantial effect modification by medical conditions...

..The PM(10) effect did not vary by sex, age, and race. These results suggest that patients with acute respiratory infections or defects in the electrical control of the heart are a risk group for particulate matter effects...

..The results were stable when controlling for confounding by sulfur dioxide, ozone, and carbon monoxide. These results are consistent with previous epidemiology and recent mechanistic studies in animals and humans...

..We found similar effects when stratifying by age groups. These larger effects are important for risk assessment...

..We found for pneumonia admissions that diabetes is an effect modifier in the younger age group, and for COPD in the older age group. We conclude that persons with diabetes are a susceptible population...

..The effect size estimate for airborne particles more than doubles when we consider longer-term effects, which has important implications for risk assessment...

..These results contribute to the overall efforts so far in understanding how exposure to air pollution promotes adverse health effects...

..Less is known about associations with specific causes of death, and modifiers of those associations...

..We saw no clear pattern for humidity effect. These dissimilarities indicate that analysis of the impact of any climatic change should take into account regional weather differences and harvesting...

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..Consistent evidence has indicated that air pollution increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The underlying mechanisms linking air pollutants to increased cardiovascular risk are unclear...

..Particulate air pollution has been linked to heart disease and stroke, possibly resulting from enhanced coagulation and arterial thrombosis. Whether particulate air pollution exposure is related to venous thrombosis is unknown...

..The study confirmed, in a large sample of cities, that exposure to ozone and PM10 is associated with respiratory hospital admissions and provided evidence that the effect of air pollution is modified by certain city characteristics...

..The findings suggest that more attention must be paid to population characteristics to identify greater likelihood of exposures and susceptibility and, as a result, to improve policy making for air pollution standards...

..Results indicate heterogeneity in the autonomic response to air pollution due to differences in baseline health, with significant associations for ambient NO2 suggesting an important role for traffic-related pollution...

..Extremes of temperature are associated with short-term increases in daily mortality...

..5) is now the particle measure of greatest health and regulatory concern. And little has been published on associations of hospital admissions and PM components...

..Air pollution exposure induces short-term inflammatory changes that may determine hyperhomocysteinemia, particularly in the presence of a preexisting proinflammatory status such as that found in cigarette smokers...

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..Extreme temperatures have been associated with increased mortality worldwide. The extent to which air pollutants may confound or modify this association remains unclear...

..Moreover, previous cohort studies have been cross-sectional and subject to confounding by uncontrolled differences between cities...

..We conclude that increased concentrations of ambient PM10 are associated with increased risk of MI among the elderly...

..Carbon monoxide was not a confounder of this association. ST-segment depression, possibly representing myocardial ischemia or inflammation, is associated with increased exposure to particles whose predominant source is traffic...

..The results suggest that air conditioning and proportion of especially traffic-related particles significantly modify the effect of PM(10) on hospital admissions, especially for CVD...

..The populations particularly susceptible to these exposures are still unclear. Recent work on potential mechanisms of action of particulate air pollution point to pathways also influenced by diabetes...

..We saw no clear pattern for the effect of humidity. In hierarchical models, greater variance of summer and winter temperature was associated with larger effects for hot and cold days, respectively, on respiratory deaths...

..Once again, the association showed no sign of a threshold. The magnitude of the association suggests that controlling fine particle pollution would result in thousands of fewer early deaths per year...

..Place of death, race, and educational attainment indicate vulnerability to temperature-related mortality, reflecting inequities in health impacts related to climate change...

..Further investigation may contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms through which particulates may increase respiratory and cardiac morbidity among vulnerable populations...

..We illustrate this prediction using New York as an example...

..We investigated the associations between fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) and blood pressure during 631 repeated visits for cardiac rehabilitation in 62 Boston residents with cardiovascular disease...

..Central AC prevalence explained some of the differences in heat effects by race, but room-unit AC did not. Efforts to reduce disparities in heat-related mortality should consider access to AC...

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..We examined whether endothelium-dependent and -independent vascular reactivity was associated with particle exposure in individuals with and without diabetes...

..The association of particulate matter (PM) with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality is well documented. PM-induced ischemia is considered a potential mechanism linking PM to adverse cardiovascular outcomes...

..Our results show the adverse impact of sugar cane burning emissions on the health of the population, reinforcing the need for public efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate this source of air pollution...