Smoke from wildfires leads to dementia and other neurological diseases

Matthew Kampen, Ph.D., professor at the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy, and his colleagues discovered that the smoke from wildfires poses a serious threat to human health. In particular, harmful microscopic particles of wood smoke, getting into the bloodstream, can in the future cause various forms of dementia, depression and even psychosis.

In a study last year, scientists found that mice that had been exposed to smoke for nearly three weeks showed changes in their brain tissue. Moreover, these changes were age-dependent.