Household air cleaners improve heart health among individuals with COPD - ScienceDaily
Date: December 5, 2022
Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine
Summary: A six-month study concludes that the use of portable home air purifiers can improve some markers of cardiovascular health in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.
Interesting points:
Researchers took air samples from participants’ homes. These samples included mold, pet dander, and tiny particulate matter.
46 randomized participants received two portable air cleaners with HEPA and carbon filters to use at home; the other participants received placebo air cleaners that circulated air but had the filters removed.
Researchers tracked and measured several indicators of lung and heart health at the one-week, three-month, and six-month periods of the study using standard clinical tests, such as blood pressure and heart ultrasounds (echocardiograms). Additionally, participants wore heart rate monitors for 24 hours during each clinical testing period, to assess heart rate variability.
At the end of the experiment, all 46 participants with active HEPA and carbon filters had improved markers of heart health, specifically a 25% increase in heart rate variability. Participants without active filters saw no increase.
Among 20 participants who used the air purifiers with active filters 100% of the time while at home, there was also a 105.7% increase in a heart health variability measure called the root mean square of successive differences between normal heartbeats, or RMSSD, which is associated with improved heart fitness.
"Ultrafine particles might be the most potent particles in terms of health consequences," says study author Meredith McCormack, M.D., M.H.S., associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the BREATHE Center (Bridging Research, Lung Health, and the Environment). "These particles and other indoor air pollutants can cause systemic inflammation in susceptible patients like those with COPD. Our study shows there's a negative impact on cardiovascular health, as well."
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