The study conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria reveals that exposure to common levels of traffic pollution can impair brain function within hours.

The peer-reviewed study published in Environmental Health found that only two hours of exposure to diesel exhaust leads to a decrease in brain functional connectivity, which is a measure of how different areas of the brain interact and communicate with each other. This study is the first controlled experiment to provide evidence of air pollution altering brain connectivity in humans.

“For many decades, scientists thought the brain may be protected from the harmful effects of air pollution,” said senior study author Dr. Chris Carlsten, professor and head of respiratory medicine and the Canada Research Chair in occupational and environmental lung disease at UBC. “This study, which is the first of its kind in the world, provides fresh evidence supporting a connection between air pollution and cognition.”

In this Special Feature, we explain how a simple eye test could help doctors detect systemic conditions, including diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and dementia.

Patients who received the treatment had less severe brain symptoms and better daily functioning 90 days after the stroke, as compared with those who received clot treatment and a placebo medication.

Butylphthalide is approved and available for use in China, where the study was done. But the medication hasn’t been approved for use by the FDA.

“This is the first trial to show the benefit of using a medication that protects the brain from damage caused by a lack of oxygen to brain tissue. The medication was given to patients with acute ischemic stroke who were also receiving treatment to restore blood flow to the brain,” says co-author Baixue Jia, MD, a doctor of interventional neuroradiology at the Beijing Tiantan Hospital and the China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases in Beijing.

Immunotherapy is currently a treatment option for breast cancer, melanoma, leukemia, and non-small cell lung cancer.

Researchers are currently looking at using immunotherapy as a treatment for other types of cancer, including prostate cancer, brain cancer, and ovarian cancer.