If you have high cholesterol, you should stay away from air pollution - suggests a new UCLA study that links diesel exhaust to atherosclerosis - a condition characterized by hardening of the arteries that significantly increases one's risk for heart attack and stroke.

According to principal investigator Dr. André Nel, chief of nanomedicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a researcher at UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute:

"When you add one plus one, it normally totals two. But we found that adding diesel particles to cholesterol fats equals three. Their combination creates a dangerous synergy that wreaks cardiovascular havoc far beyond what's caused by the diesel or cholesterol alone."

The said findings - published in the July 26 edition of the online journal Genome Biology - are the first to explain how fine particles in air pollution conspire with artery-clogging fats to switch on the genes that cause blood vessel inflammation and lead to cardiovascular disease.

Find more details from the full report.