Coverage of aging is supported in part by AARP Arizona
Exposure to wildfire smoke increases the risk of being diagnosed with dementia. That’s according to a decade-long study of more than 1.2 million people age 60 or older in southern California who had not been diagnosed with dementia at the start of the study.
"It was reported at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference that the researchers observed a 23% increase in the odds of dementia diagnosis," said Terri Spitz, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association in Phoenix.
Wildfire smoke emits a type of air pollution called fine particulate matter. Researchers found that wildfire smoke had a notably higher correlation to the risk of dementia than other forms of air pollution.
