Summary: Climate change poses a serious threat to individuals with brain problems. High temperatures, poor sleep due to hot nights and adverse weather events exacerbate neurological and psychiatric disorders, increase hospitalizations and deaths.
Researchers urge urgent action to protect vulnerable populations and reduce the impact of climate change on brain health.
Key facts:
- Climate change has a negative impact on various neurological and mental diseases.
- Extreme temperatures and weather events can worsen symptoms and increase mortality.
- Urgent action is needed to protect people with mental health problems from the effects of climate change.
Source: UCL
Climate change and its effects on weather patterns and extreme weather events could have a negative impact on the health of people with brain disorders, a UCL-led team of researchers has argued.
Personal view article, published of Lancet NeurologyThe team stressed the urgent need to understand the impact of climate change on people with neurological conditions – to protect their health and prevent worsening inequalities.
In the year Following a review of 332 papers published worldwide between 1968 and 2023, a team led by Professor Sanjay Sisodia (UCL Queen’s Square Institute of Neurology) said the extent of the damage caused by climate change to neurological diseases is expected to be significant. .
They take into account 19 different neurological conditions, including stroke, migraine, Alzheimer’s, meningitis, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, selected in the 2016 Global Burden of Disease Study.
The team analyzed the effects of climate change on a range of serious but common mental illnesses, including anxiety, depression and schizophrenia.
Professor Sisodia, Genomics Director of the Epilepsy Society and a founding member of Epilepsy Climate Change, said: “There is clear evidence of the impact of climate on certain brain conditions, particularly stroke and nervous system infections.
“Climatic differences that have been shown to have an effect on brain diseases include temperature (low and high) and high temperature fluctuations during the day – especially when these measures are not seasonal.
“Nighttime temperatures can be very important because the temperature at night can disrupt sleep. Poor sleep is known to worsen many brain diseases.
The researchers found that there was an increase in admissions, disability or mortality due to stroke during high ambient temperatures or heat waves.
Meanwhile, people with dementia may be more vulnerable to extreme temperatures (eg, heat-related illness or hypothermia) and weather events (eg, floods or wildfires), the team said, because cognitive impairment may limit their ability to adapt to environmental changes.
They wrote: “Reduced risk perception combined with the ability to seek help or reduce potential harm, such as drinking in hot weather or adjusting clothing.
“This exposure is compounded by debility, multiple illnesses, and psychotropic medications. Accordingly, extreme temperature differences, hot days, and heat waves are associated with dementia-related hospitalizations and deaths.”
In addition, incidence, hospitalization, and mortality for many mental health disorders are associated with increased ambient temperature, diurnal temperature fluctuations, or extremes of heat and cold.
The researchers found that as severe weather events and global temperatures increase, people are exposed to more severe environmental conditions, which may not be enough to affect mental health in some of the studies they have previously reviewed.
As a result, it is important to ensure that research is up-to-date and to consider not only the current state of climate change, but also the future, they say.
Professor Sisodia said: “This work is being done to prevent a serious climate change and it needs to be efficient and flexible if it is to generate useful information for both individuals and organisations.
“Furthermore, there are few studies that estimate the health consequences of brain diseases under future climate conditions, making future planning challenging.”
He added: “The general concept of climate stress is that it is an amplified, measurable, impact: multiple brain conditions, including stress, increase the risk of mental disorders, and such multi-morbidities further complicate the effects of climate change and the adaptations necessary to protect it.” Health. But there are steps we can and must take now.
The new article has already been published The Warm Brain 2: Climate Change and Brain Health An event chaired by Professor Sisodia and jointly organized by UCL and The Lancet Neurology.
The goals of the meeting are to raise awareness of the risks of climate change to brain and neurological health care, foster international collaborative research, and develop action and adaptation strategies on climate change.
Financial support The study was funded by the Epilepsy Society and the National Brain Appeals Innovation Fund.
So brain health and climate change research news
Author: Papi graves
Source: UCL
Contact: Poppy Tombs – UCL
Image: Image credited to Neuroscience News.
Preliminary study: Closed access.
“Climate change and nervous system disorders” by Sanjay Sisodia et al Lancet Neurology
Draft
Climate change and nervous system disorders
Human-induced climate change is affecting human health, including those with neurological and psychiatric conditions.
At present, making inferences about the impact of climate change on neurological and psychiatric disorders is challenging because of the general lack of data, different study methods, lack of detailed information on disease subtypes, less consideration of the influence of individual and population genetics, and wider Because they are different. Potential geographic areas for regional impacts.
However, evidence suggests that the incidence, prevalence, and severity of many neurological conditions (eg, stroke, neurological infections, and some mental health disorders) may be affected by climate change.
The data show broad and complex side effects, particularly temperature extremes to which humans are not accustomed and wide diurnal temperature fluctuations.
Preventive measures can be done by local forecasting. Few studies have documented the effects of climate change on mental health, hindering policy developments.
Robust studies on the risks of climate change for people with neurological or developmental disabilities are urgently needed.