Living near major roadways increases risk of dementia, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s
January 27, 2020
A new study led by 2017 Wall Scholar Michael Brauer suggests that living near major roads or highways is linked to higher incidences of dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis (MS). Based on data from 678,000 adults between the ages of 45 and 84 who lived in Metro Vancouver from 1994 to 1998 and during a follow-up period from 1999 to 2003, the study found that living less than 50 metres from a major road – or less than 150 metres from a highway – is associated with a higher risk of developing dementia, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and MS.
While at the Peter Wall Institute, Brauer focused on developing an improved understanding of health relationships between urban form and urban services as well as the potential to derive future health co-benefits related to urban design.
Photo: Traffic in Metro Vancouver / Shutterstock
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