Does air pollution cause dementia? UK scientists launch study to find out

Research at the Francis Crick Institute could lead to new drugs to counter progress of diseases like Alzheimer’s

British scientists are about to launch a remarkable research project that will demonstrate how the air we breathe can affect our brains. This work will be vital, they say, in understanding a major medical problem: how atmospheric pollution can trigger dementia.

In recent years, scientists have discovered that air pollution is one of the most pernicious threats to human health and have shown it is involved in causing cancer, heart disease, diabetes, low birthrates, and many health conditions.

Now scientists at the Francis Crick Institute are to look at its involvement in the phenomenon of neurodegeneration through a research project, titled Rapid, which is being funded by the charity Race Against Dementia and will be launched tomorrow.