You already know that your daily commute isn’t the most pleasant part of your day, but it can be harmful to your health as well. The results of a study conducted by the University of Michigan Health System show that being exposed to air pollution for a couple of hours causes blood pressure to increase.
When a person is exposed to air pollution, the diastolic blood pressure (the low number on the BP reading) increases dramatically. The results of the study were published in Hypertension, which is published by the American Heart Association.
The increase in systolic blood pressure may not affect a healthy person, but that’s not the case if you happen to be one of the 30 percent of people in North America who live with hypertension. Keep an eye on air pollution levels in your area and avoid going outside when numbers are up, if possible.