Sunday, October 18, 2026 Evidence-led medical research news
The First Cohort
Medical research, with the receipts

pm2-5

5 stories tagged "pm2-5"

Autoimmune & Inflammation

The Air Never Arrives One Pollutant at a Time, but the Rules Pretend It Does

In a big European analysis, almost every pollutant tested on its own came back borderline. Measure the whole mixture the way it actually reaches the lung, and the adult-asthma signal shows up.

Metabolic & Weight

Where Taiwan's Air Got Dirtier, Early Kidney Disease Turned Severe 2.25 Times as Often

Taiwan tracked 424,000 people with early kidney disease and the air they breathed. Where PM2.5 climbed, more of them slid toward dialysis and death. Where it fell, fewer did.

Brain & Aging

Dirty Air Is Linked to 16 Percent More Inflammation in Your Blood. Does That Damage Reach Your Brain?

Each step up in long-term fine-particle exposure is tied to nearly 16 percent higher inflammation in older adults' blood, and a CHARLS analysis asks whether that same signal is what wears down the aging brain.

Brain & Aging

Europe's Wildfire Smoke Has a Second Blast Radius: Stopped Hearts and Mood-Disorder ER Visits Far From the Flames

When California's wildfire PM2.5 climbed, depression ED visits rose 15 percent and mood-disorder visits 29 percent up to a week later, and per microgram that smoke was tied to larger health effects than ordinary city smog.

Autoimmune & Inflammation

The Lungs May Be Where Rheumatoid Arthritis Actually Starts

Across Italy, South Korea, and California, higher fine-particle pollution tracks more RA flares and more new cases, and the biology keeps pointing at the airway, not the knee.