by April McCarthy
December 30, 2014
from PreventDisease Website
Even though incense is commonly used for religious and ritual purposes in some of the most populated nations in the world, few studies have ever examined incense burning as a potential health threat.
Investigators have found a link between long-term
incense use and increased cardiovascular mortality.
Just about any smoke is harmful to our lungs if
it's inhaled. Incense burns four times more particulate matter
than cigarette smoke.
The authors identified cardiovascular deaths of cohort members via a nationwide death registry, checking the registry yearly through 31 December 2011. They stratified their analysis for factors such as smoking history, education level, baseline history of cardiovascular disease, and gender.
They also performed a sensitivity analysis to
examine potential confounding by exposure to secondhand smoke.
The authors estimated that current long-term
incense users had a 12% increased risk of cardiovascular
mortality compared with former and never users, including a 19%
increased risk for stroke and a 10% increased risk for coronary
heart disease.
Others showed that long-term exposure to incense
smoke increased blood vessel inflammation and affected blood
flow in rats. In vitro studies have indicated adverse
impact to human coronary and lung cells.
Like any cigarette smoke and wood smoke, incense
smoke contains particulate matter, gas products (carbon
monoxide, cardiodioxide, and sulfur dioxide) and other organic
compounds (benzene, toluene, xylenes, aldehydes and polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons) shown to harm human health. The researchers found that incense use was associated with a statistically significant higher risk of cancers of the upper respiratory tract, with the exception of nasopharyngeal cancer.
The researchers also looked at total suspended
particles (TSPs), a measurement that reflects the total
weight of small and potentially harmful airborne pollutants that
all of us are exposed to on an ongoing basis.
The risk was seen in smokers and nonsmokers.
The Singapore data research claims to be the first study to provide epidemiological evidence of effects at the population level resulting from habitual day-to-day burning of incense at home, says senior author Woon-Puay Koh, an epidemiologist at Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School.
In contrast with outdoor air pollution, incense
exposure may be easier for an individual to avoid, but Karin Yeatts
says education will be needed to help people understand the
risks of these exposures, similar to educational campaigns about
cigarette smoking.
It’s also unclear why the estimated impact on stroke was greater than that on heart disease, says first author An Pan, an epidemiologist at the National University of Singapore.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more
than 1 million people a year die from chronic obstructive
respiratory disease (COPD), primarily a result of exposure
to pollutants from cook stoves and open hearths. Burning incense
releases similar pollutants, including carbon monoxide.
Bahkoor has a number of additives, including sandalwood tree resin, essential oils and other substances.
Researchers found that both types of incense
emitted significant amounts of particles, carbon monoxide,
formaldehyde, and oxides of nitrogen, resulting in the cellular
inflammatory response.
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