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 Researchers who analyzed arsenic levels from more than 1,000 adults
under the age of 50 found the risk of heart thickening over the next
roughly five years was significantly higher in those with the
highest exposure to the toxin, according to the report published in
Circulation.
"It's important for the general public to be aware that arsenic can
be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease," said the study's lead
author, Dr. Gernot Pichler, a medical specialist in internal
medicine in the department of cardiology at Hospital Hietzing/Heart
Center Clinic Floridsdorf in Vienna. "Potential sources of exposure
need to be considered, in particular for people drinking water from
private wells. Private wells are currently not regulated and people
using private wells, including children and young adults, are not
protected."
"Testing of those wells is a critical first step in order to take
action and prevent arsenic exposure," Pichler said in an email.
To take a closer look at the impact of arsenic on the heart, Pichler
and his colleagues turned to data from the Strong Heart Family
Study, a long-term study of cardiovascular risk factors among Native
Americans. The new report included 1,337 adults in Arizona,
Oklahoma, North Dakota and South Dakota whose average age was just
under 31 when their arsenic levels were measured. At the outset,
none of the study participants had diabetes or heart disease.
The researchers evaluated the shape, size and function of the study
participants' hearts using echocardiography, a type of ultrasound
imaging. Arsenic exposure was evaluated in urine samples. Arsenic
exposure in the participants overall was found to be higher than in
the general U.S. population, but lower than what is found in Mexico
and Bangladesh, the study authors note.
After following participants for up to about seven years, the
researchers found that those with higher levels of arsenic were more
likely to have thickening of the left ventricle. Indeed, a two-fold
higher level of arsenic was associated with a 47 percent increased
risk of a participant having left ventricular thickening, known as
hypertrophy.
Among participants with higher blood pressure levels – above 120/80
- or those using blood-pressure lowering drugs, the impact of
arsenic appeared to be stronger: higher levels of arsenic were
linked to a 58 percent greater chance of developing left ventricular
hypertrophy in this group.
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Pichler suspects that individuals with high blood pressure might be
more susceptible to the deleterious effects of arsenic.
For those with arsenic-contaminated drinking water, Pichler suggests
water treatment. "The best treatment systems are at the point of
entry," he said. "Some states, such as New Jersey, help families to
treat their water. Simple water filters, heating or boiling water do
not remove arsenic. The use of bottled water is an option but
treatment will be cheaper in the long run."
The first thing, for people whose water comes from wells, "is to
have water tested," said Jessica Wilson, a clinical dietician
affiliated with Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
who wasn't involved in the study. "You want to see if it's safe and
OK to drink."
The new study highlights a big problem, said Dr. Omar Ali, director
of the cardiac catheterization lab at Detroit Medical Center's Heart
Hospital in Michigan, who also wasn't involved in the study.
"The World Health Organization estimates that more than 800 million
people worldwide are being exposed to high concentrations of
arsenic," Ali said. "And in the U.S., statistics from the (Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention) and the (U.S. Geological Survey)
show that 45 million Americans are drinking well water and 2.1
million are drinking water from wells with high concentrations of
arsenic."
This isn't the first paper to show that arsenic can lead to
cardiovascular disease, Ali said. Others have linked the toxin to
stroke and to accelerated atherosclerosis.
The new findings should spur doctors to find out where patients get
their drinking water from, Ali said. "We need to increase awareness
of this potential problem and to investigate it more," he added. "In
communities where people rely solely on well water, we need to be
extra vigilant."
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2Lsrf7j and https://bit.ly/2H5huaR
Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, online May 7, 2019.
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