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The climate crisis is making people sicker, worsening diseases ranging from seasonal allergies to heart and lung diseases.
Children, pregnant women and the elderly are the most exposed to the weather and heat. But the impact of the climate crisis – for patients, doctors and researchers – is already being felt in all the specialties of medicine, the worst of which is to be feared.
"Research suggests that our prescription drugs may have adverse effects due to changing thermal regimes," said Aaron Bernstein, pediatric hospitalist and co-director of the Center for Climate, Global Health and Environment. Harvard University.
"Extreme weather events have been shown to affect essential medical supplies, so we can not do things the way we normally would because intravenous solutions are not available.
"And it is proven that extreme weather events are causing more and more power outages, which is a huge problem for the provision of care in health facilities."
In a recent example, A study published in the journal of the American Medical Association found that patients with lung cancer and undergoing radiation therapy were less likely to survive when hurricanes disrupted their treatments.
An August article in the New England Journal of Medicine presents dozens of similar studies to show how the climate crisis is affecting every practice of medicine. Renee Salas, co-author of the report, Emergency Medicine Teacher at Harvard Medical School, said: "The climate crisis is impacting not only the health of our patients, but also the way we deliver. care and our ability to do our job. And this is happening today. "
The allergies
Climate change aggravates allergies.
As temperatures rise, plants produce more pollen for longer periods, intensifying the seasons of allergies. Increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can push plants to grow further and cause more grass pollen, which causes allergies in about 20% of the inhabitants. Carbon dioxide can also increase the allergenic effects of pollen.
Neelu Tummala, an ear, nose and throat specialist from the Washington Medical School, said she's meeting many patients with allergic rhinitis, inflammation of the nasal cavity, congestion and post nasal infusion.
"Previously, tree pollens were only in the spring, grasses were only in summer and ragweed in autumn," Tummala said. "But the timing of these starts to overlap more."
Kelly Kenney, a patient from Tummala, had minor seasonal allergies as a child, but is now suffering from sinus pain, ear pressure and congestion all year long.
"In the past four years, my symptoms have worsened," said Kenney.
Pregnancy and neonatal complications
Pregnant women are more vulnerable to heat and air pollution exacerbated by climate change.
Bruce Bekkar, a San Diego-based gynecologist-obstetrician, who quit six years ago to spend more time defending the climate, has published 68 studies on the American continent about the association between heat, smog and tiny particles of pollution of fossil origin. fuels and their relationship to premature birth, low birth weight and stillbirth.
There is more smog in hot weather, and some research suggests that particulates also increase with the climate crisis, although the data is less robust.
Bekkar said that he and his co-authors had found a significant association in 58 of the 68 studies. The research corpus covers 30 million births in the United States.
According to Bekkar, doctors should explain to their patients how heat waves can lead to premature births and how to stay away from air pollution can help them keep their children in good health. health.
"We are finding that we have a growing number of children already weakened by heat and air pollution. It's a totally different story to think about climate change as a cause of hurricanes in Florida … it's a much more pervasive and ongoing impact. "
In developing countries, pregnant women may also suffer from lack of water and food. Insect-transmitted diseases, such as the Zika virus, which has been transmitted by mosquitoes, also pose a risk to the development of the fetus.
Heart and lung diseases
Air pollution worsens as temperatures rise, stressing both the heart and lungs. Fossil fuel pollution at the root of the climate crisis is also linked to the increase in the number of hospitalizations and deaths due to cardiovascular disease, as well as to the number of people living there. increased number of asthma attacks and other respiratory problems.
More intense forest fires emit dangerous smoke into the air, as has been documented in the western United States this year. And the hottest days produce more smog, which the American Lung Association describes as acting "like a sunburn on the lungs that could trigger an asthma attack."
Risks for children
According to the Salas report, children under five support most of the health problems associated with climate change.
Samantha Ahdoot, a pediatrician in Alexandria, Virginia, cared for an 11-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl who left Florida after a hurricane destroyed their community and their medical records at their doctor's office.
A person needed surgery for heart disease and had to start over with a new cardiologist. Both had an attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that was harder to treat in times of major life disruption and without registration of drug dose adjustments. Ahdoot, who also founded the Virginia Clinicians Group for Climate Action, said he witnessed an influx of families who were moving in the wake of weather disasters.
Dehydration and kidney problems
Much warmer days make it more difficult to stay hydrated. They are related to electrolyte imbalances, kidney stones and kidney failure. Patients requiring dialysis because of kidney failure may have difficulty getting treatment during extreme weather events.
Skin disease
Higher temperatures and depletion of the ozone layer increase the risk of skin cancer. The same refrigerants and gases that damage the ozone layer contribute to climate change.
Digestive diseases
The heat is linked to higher risks of salmonella epidemic and campylobacter. Extreme rainfall can contaminate drinking water. Harmful algal blooms that develop at higher temperatures can also cause gastrointestinal problems.
Infectious disease
Changes in temperature and precipitation lead to the spread of certain insects and the transmission of malaria, dengue fever, Lyme disease and West Nile virus. Cholera and waterborne cryptosporidiosis increase with drought and floods.
Mental health conditions
The American Psychological Association has created a 69-page guidebook on how climate change can induce stress, depression, and anxiety. The group stated that "links with mental health are often not part of" the climate-health discussion.
People exposed or displaced by extreme weather or violent conflict are at higher risk for mental health problems. Extreme heat can also aggravate some mental illnesses.
Howard 's investigative journalism center at the University of Maryland discovered that emergency calls related to psychiatric issues had increased by about 40% in Baltimore during the summer. summer 2018, when the heat index had exceeded 103F, as reported in NPR.
And some psychotropic drugs interfere with the body's ability to regulate temperature – increasing vulnerability to heat.
Neurological disease
Fossil fuel pollution can increase the risk of stroke. Burning coal also produces mercury – a neurotoxin for fetuses. Mosquito and tick-borne diseases increase the risk of neurological problems. Extreme heat is also linked to cerebrovascular disease, a condition that affects the blood supply to the brain.
Nutrition
Carbon dioxide emissions reduce the nutritional density of food crops, reduce levels of protein, zinc and iron in plants and cause more nutritional deficiencies. Food availability is also disrupted by drought, societal instability and inequalities related to climate change.
Trauma
Extreme weather events, including hurricanes, floods and forest fires, often cause bodily injury. Physicians report minor fractures, crush injuries and smoke inhalation. Extreme heat is also linked to aggression and violence, and the global climate crisis is linked to violent conflict and forced migration.
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