Epidemiological research progress on the association of exposure to ambient air pollution with dementia

The prevalence of dementia is continuously increasing with the increasing ageing of the global population. Since there is no curative treatment for dementia, it is of critical importance to identify and control its modifiable risk factors to alleviate the burden of dementia. Exposure to air pollutants has been linked to a variety of adverse health outcomes, and its potential effects on dementia have drawn global attention. Previous domestic and abroad studies have investigated the association of long-term and short-term exposure to ambient air pollutants with the incidence, hospitalization and mortality of dementia, but the number of studies is limited and the results remain inconsistent. Here we review extant studies on the association of exposure to air pollutants with the incidence, prevalence, hospitalization, and mortality of dementia, to gain insight into the effects of air pollution on dementia.