Introduction
death, cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular diseases, atherosclerosis, pulmonary diseases, peripheral artery disease, glucose tolerance disorders, deaths, coronary heart disease, coronary artery disease, Atherosclerotic
DISEASES, PERIPHERAL ARTERY DISEASE, ELEVATED CHOLESTEROL, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES, OXIDATIVE STRESS, DISEASES, DIABETES MELLITUS, PULMONARY DISEASES, EVENTS, CARDIOVASCULAR MORBIDITY, CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASE, ELEVATED BLOOD PRESSURE, ATHEROSCLEROSIS, CORONARY HEART DISEASE, ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION, CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE, INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE
Diseases affecting the cardiovascular system are the most common cause of death worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 17.9 million people died from cardiovascular diseases in 2016. Therefore, almost one in three deaths of the total number of people who died in 2016 (56.9 million deaths worldwide) was due to cardiovascular disease [The term cardiovascular disease encompasses several complex clinical pictures. These include coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, and peripheral artery disease (PAD).Basically, atherosclerosis is assumed to be the cause of most cardiovascular diseases. Besides classic risk factors such as age, sex, nicotine consumption, diabetes mellitus, elevated cholesterol levels, and arterial hypertension, there may be other risk factors, which are not taken into account in everyday clinical practice. In particular, long-term exposure to particulate matter with particles of size up to 10 µm (PM10) from diesel soot, combustion reactions, and reactions of harmful gases in the atmosphere have become an increasing focus of scientific attention in recent decades [Several studies have documented that short-term as well as long-term exposure to PM10 have a significant effect on the incidence and outcome of coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and pulmonary diseases [Although the exact effect of PM10 is still unknown, scientists suspect that an inflammatory response occurs in tissues exposed to particulate matter. Oxidative stress and the direct, damaging effects of PM10 cause further changes in the tissue. This process manifests itself in increased inflammatory markers in the serum, elevated blood pressure, glucose tolerance disorders, and reduced lung function. Atherosclerotic processes also advance more rapidly by exposure to PM10 [Since the beginning of 2005, upper limits for PM10 were established in the EU, meaning that the PM10 concentration must not exceed the daily limit of 50 µg/mAs an individual, it is almost impossible to protect oneself from the risk factor PM10 or to completely avoid its harmful effects. Reduced exposure to PM10 may prolong life expectancy up to 7 months, if the long-term PM10 concentration is reduced by 10 µg/mLong-term exposure to fine dust affects the incidence of certain diseases. For example, Hoffmann et al. [Furthermore, the ESCAPE study showed that the long-term exposure to PM10 is associated with an increased incidence of acute coronary events and that this relationship already exists below the EU limits [This study aims to corroborate the hypothesis that residence-associated PM10 exposure has an impact on all-cause mortality and cardiovascular morbidity using data of the German Epidemiological Trial on Ankle Brachial Index (getABI) cohort over a 7-year observation period [