There is currently evidence that air pollution increases the incidence of irregular heartbeat

In New Delhi: Researchers have discovered a link between chronic air pollution and a higher incidence of arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat.

Air pollution is a modifiable risk factor for cardiac disease, although there is currently conflicting evidence connecting it to arrhythmia.

Chinese researchers used data from 2025 hospitals in 322 Chinese cities to examine the relationship between hourly exposure to air pollution and the abrupt onset of arrhythmia symptoms.

The researchers used air pollutant concentrations from monitoring stations closest to the reporting hospitals to conduct their studies because air pollution in China is significantly higher than the World Health Organization's recommendations for air quality.

Dr. Renjie Chen from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, said, "We discovered that acute exposure to ambient air pollution was associated with increased risk of symptomatic arrhythmia.

The dangers surfaced during the first few hours following exposure and can last for a full day.

According to Chen's research, which was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, "the exposure-response correlations between 6 contaminants and 4 subtypes of arrhythmias were roughly linear without detectable thresholds of concentrations" (CMAJ).

An estimated 59.7 million people worldwide suffer from the frequent arrhythmia disorders atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter, which can develop into more serious cardiac disease.

190,115 patients with acutely developing symptomatic arrhythmias, such as supraventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, premature beats (originating in either the atria or ventricles of the heart), were included in the study.

The relationship between air pollution and acute onset of arrhythmia that we observed is biologically feasible, the authors stated, even though the precise mechanisms are not yet completely understood.

According to some data, air pollution affects the electrophysiological activities of the heart by causing oxidative stress and systemic inflammation, changing a number of membrane channels, and disrupting the autonomic nervous system.