On days with the highest concentration of soot in the atmosphere, there is a 20% increase in the risk of suffering an atherothrombotic stroke, according to a study by IMIM, the Hospital del Mar and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). Researchers have found a direct relationship between this contaminant, originating from the poor combustion of diesel engines, and the increase in cases.

Strokes, or cerebrovascular accidents, are the leading cause of death among women and the third largest among men in Spain and it is calculated that 1 in every 6 people will be affected over the course  of their lives. In Catalonia, every year 13,000 new cases and 3,800 deaths from this condition are recorded. Atherothrombotic stroke is the third most frequent type and is associated with high levels of cholesterol, smoking and diabetes. In general, some 90% of strokes are related with risk factors such as these.

The study has analysed data from nearly 3,000 patients seen at the Hospital del Mar for a stroke between the years 2005 and 2014, and it has been possible to confirm how the presence in the air that we breathe of this element, originating from poor combustion of diesel engines, acts in the short term as a trigger of a specific type of ictus, the atherothrombotic type, caused by the detachment of atheratomous plaques which are formed by cholesterol, calcium and other substances that accumulate in the arteries and cause occlusion in a blood vessel. The researchers wanted to highlight that this shows “that the harmful effects of environmental contaminants for people’s health goes beyond their impact on respiratory systems and cancer. We have shown that the increase in black carbon in the environment also affects the brain’s circulatory system and increases the risk of suffering a stroke”.