You might not think of air pollution as an important risk factor for heart disease, but dirty air does more than make you cough and wheeze.
The American Heart Association has warned about the dangers of air pollution for many years. Many epidemiological studies (that look at disease patterns) link long-term exposure to air pollution to heart disease.
Now, new studies link atrial fibrillation and blood clots in the lungs with the small particulate matter in air pollution. That raises new concerns about all the ways pollution affects your health.