How is climate change damaging our health?

Climate change is not only causing storms, heat waves, but also making us all weaker. From asthma, seasonal allergies, cardiovascular disease, lung disease to both risk of injury and medical risks are driven by climate change.

Children, pregnant women and the elderly are most at risk from extreme weather and rising temperatures. Increasingly, climate change is impacting every aspect of health and health care.

"Many studies have shown that prescriptions and treatments can be harmful to patients when temperatures change," said Aaron Bernstein, director of the Center for Global Climate, Health and Environment at Greater Harvard studies said.

"In addition, there is evidence that extreme weather events are affecting many of our important medical supplies."

Children, pregnant women and the elderly are the ones most seriously affected by climate change.

For example, it could deplete fluid supply. Extreme weather events such as floods and power outages can be a major problem, affecting the lives of many patients.

A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that patients with radiation therapy for lung cancer had a reduced survival rate when affected by the storm.

An August article in the New England Journal of Medicine published dozens of similar studies, showing how climate change affects every corner of the medical industry.

Renee Salas, co-author of the report from Harvard Medical School, said: " The climate crisis affects not only the patients' health, but also the way we take care of them and the ability that we can do it ".

" And that is happening right now," Salas said. Only you have subtle enough to realize or not:

1. Climate change prolongs the allergy season, worsening symptoms

Climate change will make the types of allergies we encounter worse. As temperatures rise, plants will produce more pollen over longer periods of time. The allergy season is therefore extended.

Increased atmospheric CO ₂ concentration also promotes a variety of plant growth, including pollen weeds that cause allergies to about 20% of the population. In addition, CO ₂ itself may increase the allergic effect of pollen.

Neelu Tummala, an ear, nose and throat specialist at the George Washington Medical Association in Washington DC, said she was seeing more and more patients suffering from allergic rhinitis or rhinitis, stuffiness, and postnasal drip.

" In the past, pollen was only available in spring, pollen was only in summer, pollen was only in autumn , " Tummala said. " But now the seasons of those allergens start to overlap."

One of Tummala's patients, Kelly Kenney, had only a mild seasonal allergy when he was a child. But now, she begins to have sinus pain, ringing in her ears and stuffy nose all year round.

"Over the past four years, my symptoms have been getting worse ," Kenney said.

Climate change causes the seasons of allergens to start to overlap.

2. Climate change causes pregnancy complications and affects fetal health

Pregnant women are very vulnerable to heat and air pollution, two issues that are getting worse in the wave of climate change.

That's part of the reason that inspired Bruce Bekkar, a gynecologist in San Diego to quit his job six years ago, to move to work as a climate activist. He synthesized 68 studies in the United States to demonstrate the connection between temperature, dust, and tiny particles of pollution resulting from fossil fuel burning with premature babies, low birth weight and fetuses. dead saved.

A lot of dust and smoke form when it's hot, and some studies show that these particles are increasing during the climate crisis wave. Bekkar said he and his co-authors found a link between climate change and reproductive health in 58/68 studies. It is a database of about 30 million births in the United States.

Bekkar recommends that doctors advise their patients on how heat waves can lead to premature birth, and staying away from air pollution can help them keep their babies healthier.

" We see more and more children being born in a state of weakness due to heat and air pollution. It's a completely different story from the thought of climate change that causes storm surges. into Florida. The impact of climate change on reproductive health is far more extensive and continuous , "Bekkar said.

In developing countries, climate change can sometimes put pregnant women in scarcity of food and water. Insect-borne diseases, such as Zika, which are promoted by climate change are also a danger to the fetus while in the womb.

Increased temperatures, smog, and tiny particles of pollution from fossil fuel burning are associated with premature births, low birth weight babies and stillbirths.

3. Climate change increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and lung disease

Air pollution gets worse as temperatures rise, putting stress on both your heart and lungs. Fossil fuel pollution causes a climate crisis that is linked to hospitalizations and deaths from cardiovascular disease. It is also obviously related to the number of patients with asthma and other respiratory problems.

The American Lung Association describes the smog on hot days " like a sunburn on your lungs and it can trigger an asthma attack."

4. Health risks for young children

According to Salas' report, children under 5 years of age are responsible for most of the health burden caused by climate change.

Samantha Ahdoot, a pediatrician in Alexandria, Virginia, recently received treatment for an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old from Florida. The cause of the displaced children was a passing storm that damaged the hospital and medical records in Florida.

One of the two children needed heart surgery, it was dangerous that the child's medical records were gone and Ahdoot almost started from scratch to learn about his child.

But one thing she knows is that both children have attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The condition also becomes difficult to treat without previous records of medication dosage adjustments and the life upsets that children suffer after the storm.

Ahdoot said in her career she has witnessed a series of families migrating because of weather disasters.

5. Climate change affects nutrition

CO ₂ emissions are reducing the nutrient density of food crops, reducing the protein, zinc and iron content of plants and easily leading to nutritional deficiencies. Food supply is also disrupted by drought, social instability and inequality related to climate change.

Climate change affects nutrition and food security.

6. Climate change increases the risk of dehydration and kidney disease

Increasing temperatures due to climate change will increase the risk of dehydration of the body. This is also associated with electrolyte imbalances, kidney stones and kidney failure.

In addition, during extreme weather events such as storms or heat waves, electricity may be cut off, which can lead to significant risks or difficulties for dialysis patients.

7. Skin diseases

Increasing temperatures together with the depletion of the ozone layer increase the risk of skin cancer due to exposure to ultraviolet rays and other harmful radiation. Humans are using more and more air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, the gases they emit can exacerbate the depletion of the ozone layer.

8. Gastrointestinal disease

Increased temperatures also increase the risk of outbreaks of salmonella and campylobacter outbreaks. These two types of bacteria that cause food poisoning and intestinal disease can grow faster in food, if you do not store them properly.

On the contrary, floods can pollute drinking water. Algae blooming well when sea water warms can also cause gastrointestinal problems.

9. Infectious disease

Changes in temperature and rain patterns allow some insects to expand their habitat and transmit a range of diseases including malaria, dengue fever, Lyme disease and West Nile virus. Cholera and cryptosporidiosis transmitted via polluted water also increased with drought and floods.

Changes in temperature and rain patterns allow some insects to expand their habitat and spread more diseases.

10. Climate change affects mental health

The American Psychological Association has previously made a 69-page guide that warns about climate change that can cause stress, depression and anxiety disorders. Experts fear that much of the discussion on climate change has not yet included its impact on mental health, while it is a disturbing fact that is happening.

People exposed to or affected by inclement weather must move their homes at higher risk for mental health problems. Extreme heat can also make some mental illness worse.

The Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland has found that mental emergency calls have increased by about 40% in Baltimore in the summer of 2018, coinciding with the time when the heat index rose above 39 degrees.

In addition, some psychiatric medications can cause fever, and this makes patients even more affected.

11. Brain-nerve disease

Fossil fuel pollution can increase the risk of stroke. The process of burning coal also creates mercury - a neurotoxin for the fetus.

The increase in mosquito-borne diseases also indirectly increases the risk of neurological complications. While on extremely hot days, many people are prone to disorders of cerebral blood circulation.

Fossil fuel pollution can increase the risk of stroke.

12. Injury

Extreme weather events, including hurricanes, floods and fires, often cause many injuries. Extreme heat is also associated with increased violence. On a large scale, the climate crisis has also been linked to waves of migration and violent conflicts among regions of the world, such as water conflicts.

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