In recent research published on April 10, 2024, in the online version of Neurology, scientists have drawn a line connecting the dots between climate changes and an increase in stroke-related deaths and disabilities across the globe.
This study, spanning three decades and involving health data from over 200 countries, highlights a worrying trend: temperatures that stray from the norm—either too hot or too cold—are increasingly associated with strokes.
It’s crucial to understand that this study doesn’t claim climate change directly causes strokes.
Instead, it observes a significant association, leaving room for further investigation into how these environmental changes impact health, alongside other known stroke risks like high blood pressure and cholesterol.
The researchers noted a higher number of strokes linked to colder temperatures, which can lead to constricted blood vessels and elevated blood pressure, a known trigger for strokes.
Hotter temperatures, on the other hand, might cause dehydration and impact cholesterol levels, slowing blood flow and also potentially leading to strokes.
Quan Cheng, Ph.D., from Xiangya Hospital Central South University in Changsha, China, and the study’s lead author, remarked on the dramatic temperature fluctuations in recent years and their impact on human health, sparking widespread concern.
The findings suggest a growing global stroke burden, particularly affecting older populations and regions with significant healthcare disparities.
Diving deep into three decades of health records, the study analyzed stroke deaths and the impact of strokes that left people disabled in connection with non-optimal temperatures.
The 2019 data alone reported 521,031 stroke deaths and 9.4 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)—a measure combining years of life lost due to premature death and years lived with disability—attributable to such temperature variations. Notably, the majority of these deaths, 474,002 to be precise, were linked to lower temperatures.
The study also explored how temperature-related stroke risks varied by gender, finding that men had a higher rate of death from stroke due to temperature changes than women.
Geographically, central Asia emerged as the region most affected, with North Macedonia recording the highest national death rate.
These findings underscore the need for more research to fully understand the relationship between changing temperatures and stroke risks.
Cheng emphasizes the importance of addressing health inequalities and mitigating climate change through effective policies, targeting the root causes such as fossil fuel combustion, deforestation, and industrial activities.
This call to action aims not only to better grasp the impact of temperature fluctuations on stroke but also to spearhead health and environmental strategies that can reduce this emerging threat.
If you care about stroke, please read studies that diets high in flavonoids could help reduce stroke risk, and MIND diet could slow down cognitive decline after stroke.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies about antioxidants that could help reduce the risk of dementia, and tea and coffee may help lower your risk of stroke, dementia.
The research findings can be found in Neurology.
Copyright © 2024 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
