World Health Organization [WHO] put Jakarta as the city with the third highest level of pollution in the world, after Mexico and Thailand. Largest source of pollution generated smoke in motor vehicles reached 70 percent.
Motor vehicle exhaust gas contamination is not only making the city bears terjorok Jakarta. The condition is also the potential to cause various health problems for its citizens. And, those who move near the source of pollution is the most vulnerable groups receive the impact.
As a study published Archives of Internal Medicine showed that those who move in highly polluted areas have higher rates of stroke risk than those who live in low-polluted environment.
Study author Gregory Wellenius of the Centre for Environmental Health and Technology, Brown University, said that exposure to particles that pollute the air increases the risk of ischemic stroke.
There have been many studies showing the relationship between air pollution and risk of stroke, said Dr. Peter Coleman, a senior research institution stroke. Recent studies are increasingly convinced that air pollution increases the risk of stroke in an urban society.
However, Coleman said that it still needs further research to prove whether air pollutants trigger a direct stroke. Certainly everyone should take reasonable precautions to keep a balanced diet, exercise, and routine blood pressure check.
Other studies show that poor air quality associated with decreased cognitive abilities of women.
The study by a team from Rush University Medical Center Chicago, Illinois, and Harvard School of Public Health Boston showed that women who live in the bad air for 7-14 years are likely to have cognitive abilities equivalent to two years older woman living in a clean environment .
