As bushfire activity rises around the world, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute researchers are investigating the links between long- and short-term exposure to bushfire smoke and cardiovascular disease.
Air pollution is the most important environmental driver of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and with global landscape fire activity increasing, exposure to bushfire air pollution is also on the rise, placing more people at higher risk of serious adverse cardiovascular events during acute pollution episodes.
The study, led by Dr Quan Huynh, seeks to investigate the causal relationships between bushfire smoke exposure and subclinical (disease before it's clinically detectable) cardiovascular disease, and will also test the potential for statin therapy to reduce acute and long-term adverse effects.
Over the next four years, this important research will be funded through a $1milllion NHMRC 2024 Targeted Calls for Research (TCR) grant in the Climate-related health impacts and effective interventions to improve health outcomes category.
"We are looking into the long-term relationships between exposure to both ambient air pollution and bushfire smoke by looking at the changes in coronary plaque volume, and then we will investigate whether statins have a protective effect," Dr Huynh said.
"We'll determine whether the protective effects of statins differ between people with different levels of CVD risk to enable optimisation of treatment protocols."
The second part of the study will investigate the efficacy of statins against acute exposure to bushfire smoke using a randomised double-blinded crossover human exposure study.
"We hope to identify acute associations between simulated bushfire smoke exposure and subclinical cardiac and vascular function, and then test if statin treatment mitigates the pollution-induced changes."
By focussing on subclinical CVD, Dr Huynh said that disease could be identified many years before an adverse event occurs.
"We will also be able to ascertain how air pollution contributes to the development of CVD, and perhaps even determine the mechanistic pathways so we can then explore specific treatment options," Dr Huynh said.
Findings from this program will improve outcomes for Australians by providing evidence to guide early treatment to reduce overall risk, and interventions for cardiovascular protection during extreme smoke events.
Image: Greg Stonham / Shutterstock.com
