Keep those jumper cables handy!

Here's an Irish article on a German study linking traffic and subsequent heart attacks. I'll have to find the original study, though the last two paragraphs offer a clue.

Traffic may trigger heart attacks

[Posted: Tue 17/03/2009 by Joanne McCarthy]

Exposure to road traffic may trigger heart attacks, according to a new study.

People who have had a heart attack are three times more likely to report having been in traffic within an hour of the onset of their heart attack, the researchers said.

The German researchers also observed small increases in the chance that a heart attack happened up to six hours after exposure to traffic.

Driving a car was the most common source of traffic exposure, but taking public transport or riding a bicycle were also included. Females, elderly males, people who were unemployed and those with a history of angina were affected the most by traffic.

...The researchers are doing further studies to explain the reasons that the exposure to traffic was associated with a higher risk of heart attack.

The research was reported at the American Heart Association’s 49th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.

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