Photos of tiny blood vessels in the eye link air pollution to heart disease

Researchers have discovered a link between air pollution and heart disease by digitally photographing the small blood vessels in the back of the eyes. They discovered that people exposed to high mounts of air pollution had narrower arterioles. This indicates a relationship between a higher risk for heart disease and exposure to pollution. A really interesting part of this research is that they observed that people that were exposed to small amounts of pollution for a short period of time had the blood vessels of someone three years older than them that wasn't exposed to air pollution. Furthermore, they found that a person who was exposed to high amounts of air pollution for long periods of time had the blood vessels of someone seven years older than them. This article was interesting to me because I am curious about the effects that things like pollution can have on a person's health. I was especially interested in how they obtained the data for this research. By studying the vessels in the back of the eye, the researchers could gather information about the health of these vessels without the use of scalpels, anesthesia, and without it being invasive for the participants of the study.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-11/uom-pot112910.php