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Extreme temperatures due to climate change could increase hospitalizations and deaths related to health problems such as dementia, depression and epilepsy, according to a new study, indicating that climate change is negatively impacting human health. This is in addition to previous research.
Conceptual diagram Global warming around the world.
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Researchers found that several neurological diseases, including dementia, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, stroke, and migraines, as well as schizophrenia and depression, were diagnosed Wednesday in the journal Lancet Neurology. We investigated mental illnesses such as illness and anxiety.
The risk of death from stroke and dementia increases with higher temperatures, but both extreme heat and cold temperatures are associated with an increased risk of death from many mental illnesses, including depression.
Researchers also found that as temperatures rose, hospitalizations related to dementia, migraines, several mental health disorders, and multiple sclerosis also increased.
Research shows that people with dementia are more susceptible to the harms of extreme heat and cold, such as hypothermia and heat-related illnesses, and to severe weather events, because their cognitive impairment limits their ability to adapt to changes in their environment. That's what it means.
Researchers have found that several factors such as pollution, increased humidity, and decreased exposure to sunlight all influence mental health disorders, and that neurological disorders and their treatment can help the body adapt to changes in temperature. I think it will be difficult.
This study suggests that patients with these disorders can take new actions to reduce the effects of climate change, such as drinking more water, avoiding exercise in hot weather, and accessing more treatments. This suggests that it may be necessary.
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In addition to mental health and neurological disorders, the health effects of climate change include worsening respiratory disease, increased risk of heart disease, West Nile virus, Lyme disease, and water- and food-borne illnesses. Masu. As climate change increases extreme weather events, the health effects associated with these events, such as deaths, asthma, and frostbite, will also increase, with different regions of the country experiencing different impacts from climate change. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the Midwest will see the greatest increase in premature deaths related to extreme temperatures than any other region, and the Southeast will see a rise in mosquito populations as rising temperatures increase mosquito populations. predicted to face the greatest risk of disease. One of the new obstacles caused by climate change is 'climate anxiety', the fear of climate change and its impact on the world, which primarily affects children and young people, according to the study. “The whole concept of climate anxiety has further and potentially significant implications,” lead study author Dr. Sanjay Sisodiya, professor at the Institute of Neurology at University College London, said in a statement.
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In April, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that governments have a responsibility to stop climate change and its negative impacts on their populations. This comes after a group of elderly Swiss women filed a lawsuit alleging that the country is not doing enough to protect women from the effects of climate change, putting them at higher risk of death from heatwaves. . The court said it was a violation of fundamental human rights for governments not to commit to combating climate change through measures such as meeting emissions targets. The court criticized Switzerland for not reducing greenhouse gas emissions or putting in place a framework to tackle climate change. Switzerland has been ordered to pay approximately $87,000 in legal costs to a group of more than 1,000 women over the age of 64.
References
Swiss climate litigation brings together policy and human rights: What you need to know about the landmark decision (Forbes)
