Researchers from Italy have reported a disturbing finding: not only do some patients with carotid stenosis have evidence of microscopic particles from environmental plastics in their atherosclerotic plaque, but also these people are more likely to experience an adverse cardiovascular event - stroke or heart attack - than those without the particles.

Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute at Hackensack University Medical Center’s Colum Amory, M.D., director, Stroke Services and professor of neurology, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine says, “The study looks to have been excellently conducted and while it does not show how the presence of the microplastics increased the risk of stroke or heart attack, it provides clinicians an understanding of the impact of these plastics on our health. Additional studies are warranted to prove the causational effect of the microplastics, source(s) of their presence and how we can mitigate this risk.”

Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center’s Chief of Cardiology Brett Sealove, M.D., adds, “the omnipresence of plastics in our daily lives has prompted extensive research into the potential dangers of their disposal. Specifically, this study aimed to investigate the three-year Cardiovascular outcomes in individuals undergoing carotid endarterectomy, a surgical procedure for those at high risk for adverse cardiovascular events, whose atheromatous plaques had the presence of microplastics and/or nanoplastics (MNP) versus those who did not.” (RMP/Newswise)