How heat waves affect our physical and mental health – The Hill

As temperatures rise in record high in many parts of the United States, medical and city officials are on high alert to prevent and mitigate the impact heat waves can have on our health.

Although many may think that the health risks of extreme heat stop at heatstroke and exhaustion, “they’re actually quite rare,” explains Aaron Bernstein, director of the Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment at the School of Public Health at Harvard’s TH Chan and pediatrician at Children’s Hospital in Boston.

In an interview with Changing America, Bernstein even classified the increased attention to these dangers as a detriment to the public.

While heat exhaustion and heat stroke do occur, “really what’s much more important is this [heat] it can cause existing diseases to explode,” says Bernstein. Because organs do not function as normal during periods of extreme heat, the risks for individuals with chronic medical problems such as diabetes, COPD or heart disease are increased during heat waves.

Other vulnerable populations include elderly individuals — especially those over 80 — pregnant individuals, infants, outdoor workers and those dependent on technology-dependent care, Bernstein added, as the threat of power outages often looms during intense heat. But, “the heat can land you in a health care facility at any age,” Bernstein said.

Urologist and pediatrician Gregory Tasian of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia says research going back to the 1970s shows a higher prevalence of kidney stones in hotter areas — leading experts to call the region the “stone belt.” A combination of high temperatures and high humidity increases the risk of kidney stones.

While a heat wave may not cause kidney stones on its own, it can contribute to the condition for people who were already at risk. When you factor in periods of high temperatures, “you’re likely to have more people who, as I call them, get stoned because they have other risk factors for that,” Tasian says. This includes people who have had a history of kidney stones or have a family history of stone disease.

The heat can also affect those with certain mental health conditions. Commonly described treatments for mental health disorders, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), can make patients sweat more, exacerbating the threat of dehydration. Heat waves have also been associated with increased rates of violent crime.

America is changing faster than ever! Add America’s difference to yours Facebook or I tweet feed to stay on top of the news.

More days of high heat may also increase the rate of mental health emergencies in hospitals. Rising temperatures across the country are associated with an increase in emergency department visits for mental health reasons, according to study results presented by Amruta Nori-Sarma of Boston University in a OUtreACH. Heat is an external stressor that can worsen not only the physical condition, but also the mental condition.

Heat waves – and their consequences on our mental and physical health – are becoming more frequent and more intense with climate change.

“A child born in 2020 in the United States will experience about 35 times more dangerous heat waves, like the one that swept across much of the country in the past week or so, than a child born in born in the United States in the 19th century. Bernstein said. “[This is] because of climate change, because of our reliance on fossil fuels.”

Heat-related deaths often lag the peak of heat waves and can occur up to 24 hours later, the global health professor says. Kristie Eby at the University of Washington. This makes it important to pay attention in the coming days.

“It’s a particular problem when temperatures don’t drop as much as they normally would at night,” says Ebi. “So paying attention, not just the first day. But on days two, three and four, because the accumulation of heat within the core of our body begins to affect itself and our organs.”

During the heat dome that hit the Pacific Northwest last year, there was a 69-fold increase in heat-related hospital presentations. Since then, local government officials in Seattle have put together a comprehensive heat action plan, according to Ebi, which has been effective in informing people about the coming heat waves and how to stay safe. However, there is still much more planning that needs to be done in terms of service delivery to ensure that hospitals and clinics can handle an increase in heat-related cases, Ebi added.

“Heat doesn’t spare any part of our body,” says Bernstein. But understanding the combination of factors that increase a person’s vulnerability can help inform more targeted approaches to prevent hospitalizations and poor outcomes.

Part of the challenge of dealing with high temperatures is that there is no official definition of heatwave, and how a population as a whole deals with higher temperatures can also depend on behavior and knowledge. Several social factors such as limited mobility, lack of access to air conditioning and social isolation all need to be taken into account when identifying and protecting those most at risk, he stressed.

“Those individuals who work jobs that require you to be outside are going to be the most affected, and I think it certainly extends beyond kidney stones to other effects of temperature on human health,” Tasian says.

Being proactive and having resources available to address the potential health consequences of heat waves before they strike is essential.

Taking the National Weather Service’s heat alert warnings as an example, Bernstein explains, “those alerts are issued at much higher temperatures when many, if not most, of the people who are vulnerable are already sick and hospitalized.” , marking an opportunity. for improvement.

Local government-level heat action plans can include outreach to at-risk groups, Ebi tells Changing America. This includes homeless people, people with chronic illnesses and pregnant women. For example, they can make sure people know where they are local cooling centers should be sheltered during periods of high heat.

Health systems can also use the information they have about at-risk patients to better enable successful rewarming plans, another move—called patient-centered climate resilience—being developed by Bernstein and colleagues at the School of Health Public TH Chan.

When cities open cooling centers during heat waves, those who are socially isolated or people with limited mobility are likely not to make the trip, again underscoring the importance of identifying at-risk community members in advance.

Both heat alerts and cooling centers are helpful, but more can be done to help prevent avoidable deaths and reported poor outcomes when heat waves strike. As Nori-Sarma says, social connections are the best protection against negative effects.

For example, heat warning systems based on health outcomes tailored to a city’s geographic location offer a potential solution for some communities. This is already being tested by Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center.

Published on August 01, 2022