United States: Climate change may result in the intensification of the dangers as we usually acknowledge that certain health problems have a strong relationship with weather extremes, such as stress, epilepsy, and dementia.
The various previous studies are consistent in their linking climate change to worse health conditions.
In the latest study, researchers focused on nervous system impairments with different etiologies: dementia, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, stroke, and migraine, and above all the mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety, according to the study published on Wednesday, which has recently appeared in The Lancet Neurology.
The linkage between high temperatures and deaths
According to the risk of death from a heat stroke goes up with increasing temperatures. Also, deaths from “dementia” and extreme (both hot and cold) temperatures are associated with increased risk of mortality for several mental health illnesses like depression.
Besides this, scientists observed that the number of hospitalizations for dementia, migraines, several mental health issues, and multiple sclerosis increases with rising temperatures.
According to the researchers, patients with dementia are more vulnerable to side effects of severe hot and cold temperatures, such as hypothermia and heat-related illnesses. It is because severe weather conditions cause cognitive impairment, limiting their ability to adapt to environmental changes, Forbes reported.
Scientists postulate several reasons, which are not limited to pollution and humidity growth, as well as not enough sunshine. They say it is all harmful to mental health. However, one other bad influence is when neurological disorders make it difficult for the body to adapt to changing temperatures.
As per the study’s recommendations, the affected patients with these diseases will need to start new methods to cure themselves by drinking more water, not exercising when it’s hot outside, or taking the treatments more.
More about the news
While mental health and neurological problems remain the effects of climate change on health, the worsening of respiratory problems, heart illnesses and West Nile Virus, Lyme disease, and water- and food-borne illnesses are other health problems associated with climate change, Forbes reported.
Extreme weather change, along with climate change, worsens the health of an individual. These events include asthma-related issues as well as death and frostbite. The effects of health also differ from region to region across the country depending upon the severity of climate change in a region.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate the Midwest will have the topmost elevated death temperature as compared to the rest of the regions.
While the Southeast has the greatest risk of contracting mosquito-related diseases, since warmer temperatures increase mosquito populations, sorting out this issue is of paramount importance.
What is climate anxiety?
One new disorder climate change brought in is “climate anxiety,” which is a dread of the changes in the climate as well as its consequences to the world, but this disorder mainly affects children and youth, as per the study.
According to Dr. Sanjay Sisodiya, a professor at London University, the “Climate anxiety” scenario, i.e., the concept of climate anxiety, is an additional high burden on certain segments of the population.