People suffering from brain disorders (stroke, epilepsy, depression, etc.) would be particularly affected by the hazards of global warming, according to a study.
- Climate disruption is likely to negatively affect the health of people with brain disorders (stroke, Alzheimer’s, migraine, etc.) and psychiatric disorders (depression, schizophrenia, etc.), according to a study.
- The weather hazards with the greatest impact on brain disease are temperature extremes and a wide variation in temperatures throughout the day, especially when the thermostat is “unusual for the season.”
- People suffering from dementia are very sensitive to extreme temperatures, but also to weather events such as floods or forest fires. “Cognitive impairments may limit their ability to adapt to environmental changes,” according to the researchers.
Temperature fluctuations, heat waves… Climate change and its meteorological consequences are likely to negatively affect the health of people already suffering from brain disorders. This is what emerges from a new study published in the journal The Lancet Neurology.
The impact of climate change on brain diseases
To reach this conclusion, researchers from University College London (UCL) examined a total of 332 scientific articles published around the world between 1968 and 2023. They thus analyzed the impact of climate change on 19 different conditions. of the nervous system – stroke, migraine, Alzheimer’s disease, meningitis, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis – as well as several serious but common psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, depression and schizophrenia.
Result, “there is clear evidence of an impact of climate on certain brain conditions, particularly stroke and infections of the nervous system”can we read in a communicated. Scientists found that the weather hazards that had the greatest impact on brain disease were extreme temperatures (both low and high) and a wide variation in temperatures throughout the day, especially when the thermostat was on. “unusual for the season”.
The study reveals that in the event of higher ambient temperatures or heat waves, there was “an increase in hospital admissions, disability or mortality following a stroke”. Rising nighttime temperatures can also disrupt sleep. However, it is no longer in doubt that poor sleep can aggravate a certain number of neurological disorders.
Climatic hazards worsen the health of people with dementia
Furthermore, the team of researchers observed that people suffering from dementia are particularly sensitive not only to extreme temperatures (stroke, hypothermia, etc.), but also to weather events such as floods or forest fires. And for good reason, “cognitive impairments may limit their ability to adapt to environmental changes.”
“Reduced awareness of risk is combined with a decreased ability to seek help or compensate for potential harm”for example by drinking more water or adapting clothing in the event of a heatwave, not to mention “multimorbidity and psychotropic medications” which can aggravate this fragility. As a result, the more extreme the climatic conditions, the higher the hospitalizations and mortality associated with dementia.
If the study did not focus on the phenomenon of eco-anxiety, the authors affirm that anxiety regarding climate change and environmental threats can also have a “additional and potentially significant influence” on the risk of brain disorders and psychiatric disorders. Work has notably shown that eco-anxiety can disrupt the mental health of young people and pregnant women, and sleep more generally.
