Is there a link between stroke and climate change? A study may have found one
Global News
Scorching hot days and frigid cold spells may be contributing to an increasing number of deaths and disabilities from stroke, according to a new study.
Scorching hot days and frigid cold spells may be contributing to an increasing number of deaths and disabilities from stroke, according to a new study. With climate change leading to more extreme temperatures, the global burden of stroke could continue to rise.
The study, published Wednesday in Neurology, found that in 2019 climate change could have been linked to more than half a million deaths from stroke across the world.
Over three decades (1990 to 2019), researchers discovered a rising correlation between both high and low temperatures and the occurrence of death and disability from stroke. However, the researchers noted the study does not prove that climate change causes stroke, it only shows an association.
“Dramatic temperature changes in recent years have affected human health and caused widespread concern,” study author Quan Cheng, of Xiangya Hospital Central South University in China, said in a Wednesday media release. “Our study found that these changing temperatures may increase the burden of stroke worldwide, especially in older populations and areas with more health care disparities.”
Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Canada, according to Statistics Canada. It happens when blood stops flowing to any part of your brain, damaging brain cells. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, a stroke event resulting in hospitalization happens every five minutes in Canada.
Extreme temperatures are also on the rise across the world. Weather events from raging wildfires to scorching summer heat waves made 2023 the hottest year on record, according to a report by European climate agency Copernicus. Last year, the global average temperature was 14.98 C – the highest ever recorded since data collection began in 1850.
Dr. Dylan Blacquiere, a stroke neurologist at the Ottawa Hospital, told Global News that this is not the first time environmental conditions have shown to be a risk factor in terms of stroke.
While risk factors for stroke such as high blood pressure, smoking, obesity and diabetes have been well-established, the researchers sought to investigate whether extreme temperature changes in recent years have also played a role in stroke incidence.
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