A new study by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru found that women exposed to household air pollution from cooking fuels may be at a higher risk of cognitive impairment than men. The study was published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia journal.
For the study, the researchers analysed MRI brain scans of ageing adults in the rural town of Srinivaspura in Karnataka. It revealed that women might be at a higher risk of experiencing adverse effects in the brain.
Researchers, including those from the University of Chicago, US, explained that burning solid fuels for cooking, especially in poorly ventilated spaces, can release air pollutants, such as oxides of carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and heavy metals, along with suspended particulate matter.
These pollutants have been shown to affect the brain through several mechanisms, primary ones being inflammation and oxidative stress.
For the study, the researchers analysed more than 4,100 adults aged 45 and above, who are participants of the ongoing Centre for Brain Research-Srinivaspura Aging, Neuro Senescence, and COGnition (CBR-SANSCOG) study at IISc. MRI brain scans were taken for around a thousand of these participants.
They explained that cognitive impairment affects memory, reasoning and speech. It may precede conditions like dementia and Alzheimer's disease, in which the affected person faces trouble performing daily routine activities.
The authors of the study wrote, "Polluting cooking technology users may be at a higher risk for cognitive impairment. Rural females, who tend to be more exposed than males, could have greater vulnerability to (household air pollution's) adverse effects on the brain."
The researchers said that given the increasing burden of dementia in India, the findings have significant implications for public health, providing insights on how household air pollution can influence dementia risk
They wrote, "Policies promoting clean cooking fuel (or) technology adoption are imperative."
They added that the findings support those from previous studies which showed a lowered cognition and ability to process visual information in space among people using polluting cooking technology.
Further, upon analysing the MRI brain scans of women, the team found lower volumes of hippocampus -- a brain region critical for memory and known to be significantly impacted in Alzheimer's disease.
Overall, the study broadens the understanding of how pollution-causing cooking fuel is related with poor cognition, the authors said.
"Community-centred interventions to improve health literacy and clean cooking fuel adoption among rural Indians, could help reduce the substantial morbidities associated with polluting cooking fuel use, and reduce dementia risk," they said.
The study is the only one to employ brain scanning techniques in a rural population to examine how household air pollution can adversely impact the brain structurally, the authors said.
(With PTI inputs)
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