[Life] AI Detects Cardiovascular Warning Signs: Air Pollution More Harmful to the "Heart" Than Weather
bellala 央廣4h ago
Is air pollution more likely to trigger cardiovascular diseases than weather? A cross-disciplinary team from National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and University of Taipei analyzed over 5 million emergency room records in Taiwan over 23 years using AI. They discovered that traffic pollutants like nitrogen oxides (NOx) are better predictors of high-risk days for cardiovascular emergencies than meteorological factors such as temperature and humidity. Elderly individuals aged 65 and above were most significantly affected by environmental changes. This research finding has been published in "GeoHealth," a Q1 international journal under the American Geophysical Union (AGU). In the future, it is expected to lead to the development of a health early warning system to protect high-risk groups in advance. #CNA Reporter Chiang Chao-lun reports#
The interdisciplinary research team, composed of faculty from NTNU's Department of Earth Sciences and Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and the University of Taipei's Department of Health and Welfare, integrated 23 years of meteorological observations, air quality monitoring, and over 5 million cardiovascular emergency records from 2000 to 2022 to establish a daily cardiovascular emergency risk prediction model.
The research team further collected data on temperature, humidity, wind speed, rainfall, and air pollutants such as PM2.5, ozone, and nitrogen oxides, creating 184 environmental features. Through artificial intelligence analysis, they examined the correlation between environmental conditions and daily emergency risk, attempting to identify which environmental factors are most likely to induce cardiovascular diseases.
Geographical distribution, environmental monitoring stations, and acute cardiovascular disease emergency data in the NTNU interdisciplinary team's research. The left image shows the five major research areas (all: entire region; TNKY: Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, Yilan; THM: Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli; YCTKP: Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung; TCN: Taichung, Changhua, Nantou; HT: Hualien, Taitung) and the locations of representative meteorological and air quality monitoring stations. The right image shows the number of acute cardiovascular disease emergency visits nationwide and by region from 2000–2022, categorized by gender and age group (30–49, 50–64, ≥65 years old). (Provided by NTNU)
The results indicate that compared to traditional meteorological factors familiar to the public, such as temperature, humidity, or rainfall, clusters of high risk formed by air pollution factors are better at distinguishing high-risk days for cardiovascular emergencies. Among these, nitrogen oxides (NOx), nitric oxide (NO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) related to traffic emissions showed the strongest predictive power.
The study also found that environmental risks do not affect everyone equally. The emergency visit rate for cardiovascular diseases in men is about 1.7 times that of women. Elderly individuals aged 65 and above are particularly high-risk groups, with an emergency visit rate about 2.4 times higher than those aged 50 to 64, and more than 11 times higher than those aged 30 to 49.
Further analysis revealed that the 65 and above age group is most sensitive to environmental changes, followed by the 50 to 64 age group. Although women have a lower overall emergency visit rate, their sensitivity to changes in environmental conditions is slightly higher than men's. Notably, the emergency risk for the elderly population in northern Taiwan was most accurately predicted by the model, indicating a stable and significant correlation between environmental factors and cardiovascular emergency risk in the elderly.
Professor Chen Hui-hsuan from NTNU's Department of Earth Sciences, a proponent of the research team, further explained that neither air pollution nor temperature alone can fully explain the risk of cardiovascular emergencies. It is the combined effect of multiple environmental factors, with traffic-related nitrogen oxides (NOx) having the greatest impact among all combined factors. She stated: "(Original sound) It tells us that under these circumstances, we should all take more precautions. For example, you know NOx is often related to traffic emissions, so avoid areas with heavy traffic or environments with higher air pollution. Yes, we can indeed make such a call."
However, Chen Hui-hsuan also pointed out that while the current research has proven that long-term climate and air quality changes can predict the risk of cardiovascular emergencies, developing it into a true health alert system requires further research into extreme weather, abnormal air pollution events, and individual factors such as physique and medical history. Nevertheless, she emphasized that establishing an early warning system is the team's future direction.
The research team believes that as extreme climate and air pollution risks receive increasing attention, the integration of artificial intelligence with environmental monitoring data can not only identify key factors affecting health but also serve as an important tool for future health risk management, providing greater protection for high-risk groups before danger strikes. (Editor: Shen Chen-chiang)
Source Link: https://www.rti.org.tw/news?uid=3&pid=215668
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