Obese Persons with Fat Bellies Should Avoid Air Pollution
Correlation between endocrine function and obesity + air pollution, analyzed by Seoul National University Hospital-National Cancer Center
New discovery about harmful effects on lung functions, blood pressure, thyroid, and cholesterol
There have been studies that showed that exposure to air pollution increases the risk of lung function failure and high blood pressure. According to a recent study, exposure to air pollution also stimulates the thyroid hormonal level to decrease while stimulating the “bad” cholesterol level to increase.
Thyroid Functions
“Bad” Cholesterol (LDL-C)
On November 25th, the research team of Professor Park Jin-Ho of Seoul National University Hospital and Doctor Kim Hyun-Jin of the National Cancer Center presented the results of their study which analyzed how air pollution affects thyroid hormones and “bad” cholesterol (LDL-C), according to different degrees of obesity.
According to the results, for obese persons that fall into the category of ‘total body obesity’ (BMI 25kg/㎡ or greater), increase in the density of nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide caused their thyroid functions to decrease, or hypothyroidism. Also, for obese persons whose visceral fat area was 150㎠ or greater, as measured by abdomen CT, level of “bad” cholesterol drastically went up along with increase in their exposure to fine dust and sulfur dioxide.
The mechanisms of the relationships between obesity, air pollution, and endocrine function disorder are not yet known.
“My inference is that the increase of hypothyroidism and ‘bad’ cholesterol due to exposure to air pollution has something to do with oxidation stress and inflammatory response, with obesity playing the role of a catalyst,” said Doctor Kim Hyun-Jin.
According to the research team, this study is significant in that it has determined that the more obese a person is, greater is the risk of endocrine function disorders like hypothyroidism and high “bad” cholesterol level.
“When air pollution meets obesity, especially abdominal visceral obesity, your health is at stake,” said Professor Park Jin-Ho (Department of Family Medicine). “It is important to make efforts to form good habits to maintain a healthy body weight by consciously minimizing exposure to air pollution, eating healthy, and exercising regularly,” he emphasized.
The study was based on adults who visited the Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System Gangnam Center between 2006-2014, their residence information, and the average density of air pollution in their residence area per year as provided by Airkorea atmospheric monitoring stations.
The study was published as 2 academic journal papers. Research about the relationships between air pollution and hypothyroidism was published in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Research about the relationship between air pollution and the “bad” cholesterol was published in International Journal of Obesity.