Headline Nov. 11/ ''' SURVIVING AIR POLLUTION '''

''' SURVIVING AIR POLLUTION '''

*MISERY-BLOOD-DEATH*  : the first fleeting host of The World Students Society,  *Proud Pakistan*, wins a bronze. and gets ranked 3rd.

POLLUTION beats, VIOLENCE.... by miles, and statute miles and nautical miles, in causing horrible suffering deaths in Pakistan.  One latest report puts the figure at 311, 189.

India is just no better, and then neither is China, which in many cases is even worse,  or for that matter, most of the remaining world.

Worldwide pollution claimed the lives of  9 million people in 2015 -one in every six deaths that very year, with half of them in India and China.

POLLUTION beats arch rivals wars and violence and even hunger and natural disasters, when it comes to causing death, all over the entire world. 

It brings more deaths than any single disease -way more than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

AND THEN in recent weeks, wildfires have devastated parts of Northern California, killing at least 42 people, incinerating entire neighborhoods and sending thousands fleeing.

And those living on the east side, a gray ash rained down all over, and the sun was tinged an  apocalyptic red, air quality was deemed worse than Beijing's.

The fires are now better contained, but some weeks later large swaths of Northern California contended with enough smoke that, for a few days, children were kept inside during recess.

The best way to protect oneself from pollution like this is obviously to avoid inhaling it at all. But if avoidance is impossible, there may be another option:

Eat a more healthful diet. A small but growing body of research suggest that Mediterranean-like-fare   -lots of fruits, vegetables and fish, whole grains and nuts   -may protect the body against the ravages of air pollution.

WHEN considering air pollution, scientists fret about fine particles -those smaller than 2.5 microns, or one thirtieth the width of human hair. Tiny particles penetrate deep into the lung, and may enter the blood-stream-

Causing the sort of low-grade inflammation and oxidative stress thought to worsen, and even to drive, many chronic diseases.

Exposure to bad air has been linked with an increased risk of heart disease, cancer and dementia. It may even elevate the risk of diabetes. We already know that a good diet protects against these same diseases.

What some now contend is that diet can also blunt the effects of air pollution not be shielding the body directly like a mask, but by helping out bodies to cope with the insult.

In one small study, scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency gave either fish oil or Olive Oil daily to 29 middle-age people for a month, and then exposed them for two hours to particulate pollution.

As a rule, the less one's heart rate varies, the more likely one is to suffer a heart attack. 

Those who took olive oil saw their heart variability decline when inhaling the pollution; levels of unhealthy LDL cholesterol and triglycerides also went up -two risk factors for heart disease.

But those who took fish oil didn't see the same response. the supplements seemed to attenuate their reactions to the particles entering their bodies, making the pollution less dangerous.

How this works, isn't completely clear. The anti-inflammatory effects omega-3 fatty acids, which abound in fish oils, may be partly responsible, as well as those acids' direct effects on the nervous system.

But if you prefer not to contribute to the depletion of the world's fisheries, or simply can't stand fish, various plant compounds appear to have a similar protective effect.

In a recent study, scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, showed that drinking broccoli sprout extract for four fays in juice could blunt the amount of inflammation that occurred in people's noses after exposure to diesel exhaust pollution.

Another study, led by Columbia University scientists, made a similar finding, but with vitamins. The vitamins could prevent particulate pollution from affecting heart rate variability and provoking inflammation.    

Pollution can activate normally quiet ''bed genes,'' Jia Zhong, a Columbian University epidemiologist  and the lead author on the study, disclosed. B-vitamins may keep those potentially dangerous genes silent.

Yet another study, conducted in Mexico, indicated that vitamins C and E could, when given to asthmatic children, prevent ozone from diminishing lung function.

So should we all load up on supplements? Here caution is warranted.

The Honor and Serving of the latest Operational Research on *Life and Living* continues. The World Students Society thanks author and researcher Moises Velasquiez-Manoff.

With respectful dedication to the Leaders, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW!  -the World Students Society and Twitter-!E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Reality &  Life '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless