{"id":3699,"date":"2025-11-19T10:02:41","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T10:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/microplastics-could-be-powering-heart-disease-study-suggests\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T10:02:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T10:02:42","slug":"microplastics-could-be-powering-heart-disease-study-suggests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/microplastics-could-be-powering-heart-disease-study-suggests\/","title":{"rendered":"Microplastics could be powering heart disease, study suggests"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>2025-11-19 10:02:40<\/b><br \/>\n<BR>Microplastics could be fuelling heart disease.<BR><br \/>\nResearchers at the University of California, Riverside found that everyday exposure to microplastics can accelerate the development of atherosclerosis &#8211; the dangerous narrowing of arteries linked to heart attacks and strokes. <BR><br \/>\nEven more startling, the effect appeared only in males.<BR><br \/>\nLead researcher Professor Changcheng Zhou wrote in Environment International: \u201cOur findings fit into a broader pattern seen in cardiovascular research, where males and females often respond differently.\u201d <BR><br \/>\nHe added that while the mechanism isn\u2019t yet clear, factors such as sex chromosomes and hormones, \u201cparticularly the protective effects of oestrogen\u201d, may explain why females were seemingly shielded.<BR><br \/>\nFor the study, scientists gave male and female mice daily doses of microplastics for nine weeks \u2013 an amount reflecting real-world exposure levels found in food and water. <BR><br \/>\nAll mice were kept lean on a low-fat diet to rule out typical risk factors like obesity or high cholesterol.<BR><br \/>\nWhat happened next shocked the team, as male mice developed 63 per cent more plaque in the aortic root and a staggering 624 per cent more plaque in a major artery branching from the heart, while the females showed no such damage.<BR><br \/>\nThe microplastics didn\u2019t cause weight gain or raised cholesterol, and instead, they appeared to attack the artery walls directly. <BR><br \/>\nSingle-cell RNA sequencing revealed that microplastics disrupted endothelial cells, the gatekeepers lining blood vessels. <BR><br \/>\nZhou said: \u201cWe found endothelial cells were the most affected. Their dysfunction can initiate inflammation and plaque formation.\u201d<BR><br \/>\nFluorescent microplastics were even discovered inside arterial plaques, mirroring findings from recent human autopsies.<BR><br \/>\nZhou admitted avoiding microplastics entirely is \u201cnearly impossible\u201d, but reducing exposure &#8211; such as by ditching single-use plastics or limiting processed foods &#8211; may help. <BR><br \/>\nMore urgently, he warned that microplastic pollution is rising, and so are potential health risks.<BR><br \/>\nHe said: \u201cOur study provides some of the strongest evidence so far that microplastics may directly contribute to cardiovascular disease.<BR><br \/>\n\u201cUnderstanding their impact is becoming more urgent than ever.\u201d<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Visit Bang Bizarre (main website) <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><script src=\"https:\/\/geo.dailymotion.com\/player\/xtbac.js\" data-video=\"\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2025-11-19 10:02:40 Microplastics could be fuelling heart disease. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside found that everyday exposure to microplastics can accelerate the development of atherosclerosis &#8211; the dangerous&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bizarre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3699"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3700,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699\/revisions\/3700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}