Study: More than half a million global deaths from stroke may be linked to climate change

Researchers discovered for more than three decades that nonoptimal temperatures, those above or below temperatures related to lower death rates, were increasingly related to death and disability because of the shock. The study does not confirm that climate change causes strokes.

It shows only one relationship. The study also did not examine other risk factors such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels.

Researchers found that most of these shocks were due to lower than optimum temperatures, however, yet they also found an increase in shocks related to temperatures higher than optimum temperatures. With lower temperatures, a person's blood vessels can be narrowed, increasing blood pressure.

High blood pressure is a risk factor for stroke.

Higher temperatures can cause dehydration, affecting cholesterol levels and resulting in slower blood flow, factors that can also lead to strokes.

“The dramatic temperature changes in recent years have affected human health and caused widespread concern”, said study author Quan Cheng, Ph.D., of the Central South University of Xiangya Hospital in Changsha, China.

“Our study found that these temperature changes can increase the burden of stroke worldwide, especially in older populations and areas with more health care inequalities”, he said.

For the study, researchers looked at 30 - year - old health records for more than 200 countries and territories. They examined the number of deaths from strokes and the burden of inadequacy related to shock due to nonoptimal temperatures.

They then shared the data to see different regions, countries, and territories. They also looked at age groups and genders.

In 2019 there were 521,031 deaths related to nonoptimal temperatures. There were also 9.4 million years of regulated lives with disabilities due to strokes related to non-optimal temperatures. The years of limited life in order are the number of years of life lost because of premature death and years of sickness.

When they watched low temperatures compared with high temperatures, they found that 474,002 of the total deaths were related to low temperatures.

Researchers found that the rate of death from strokes from temperature changes for male participants was 7.7 per 100,000 compared to 5.9 per 100,000 for female participants.

When we look at the regions, Central Asia had the highest mortality rate for impacts related to nonoptimal temperatures of 18 per 100,000. On the national level, Northern Macedonia had the highest death rate of 33 per 100,000.

“More research is needed to determine the impact of temperature change in strokes and to target solutions to address health inequality”, Cheng said.

Future “Research should aim to reduce this threat by finding effective health policies addressing possible causes of climate change, such as fossil fuels, deforestation and industrial processes”, he said. /Gazzeta Shneta/