Climate change has been on human minds since long but has now begun to interfere in their daily lives, becoming a massive global challenge. Affecting environment and human health considerably, climate change remains an ongoing study.
In its recent link with human health, climate change has been found to have an alarming impact on human heart.
Understanding this connection has been termed as crucial for enhancing public health awareness and climate mitigation strategies in the upcoming war world.
What is climate change? As per United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), this refers to a long term change in climate attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of human atmosphere and which in addition to natural climate variability, is observed over comparable time periods.
After all, if the climate change is worsened by humans, wouldn’t it affect them any sooner? Will the wrath not be reversed?
Rising Temperatures and Budding Heart Disease
While the humankind remained in slumber climate change has discretely and concordantly worked towards an increase in the global temperatures, thereby, altering entire ecosystems.
Heatwaves have added to the chaos, becoming more frequent, intense and thereby, leading to a rise in heat-related illnesses.
According to biologists, high temperatures have been found to aggravate the prematurely existing yet hidden heart conditions, increasing the concern of heart attacks and strokes. This happens as the human body’s ability to regulate temperature gets restricted under extreme heat which further exerts additional strain on the cardiovascular system.
Heat waves are apparently becoming more common. This has also been ascertained by several ongoing studies to have significant impact on the cardiovascular system.
Rising earthly temperatures cause the human body to attempt cooling itself through dilation of blood vessels and excessive sweat production.
Furthermore, this process pushes the heart to pump harder and maintain a stable internal temperature that is crucial to run normal biological processes. A recent study has found that with every 1°C increase in global temperatures, the rates of rise in heart attack risk will potentially increase, especially amongst the elderly and vulnerable.
A researcher explains: “For people with heart conditions or those who have had a previous heart attack, heat stroke is particularly dangerous as their heart is already vulnerable.”
Potentially, heat stroke alone can result in the degradation of central nervous system (CNS), causing unnecessary confusions, experience seizures, or embrace coma.
Another study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association has also asserted that extreme heat events share a link to rise in cardiovascular hospitalizations and deaths. The study attributed this to excessive heat and dehydration in tandem as their combination thickens the blood, making it difficult for the heart to function as it is supposed to.
Air Quality Deterioration & Heart Conditions to Consider
The deterioration of air quality has been another significant aspect of climate change. Pollutants such as particulate matter and ozone have also increased creating a link to various heart conditions. Studies have illustrated how continuous exposure to poor air quality can also result in arterial inflammation or stiffness. Populations therefore fall prey to the risk of heart diseases.
The numbers say it all. The heart -related deaths in the period of 2010-2019 because of air pollution alone increased by around 27 percent. Vice versa, almost 70 percent of the total outdoor air pollution-related deaths in 2019 i.e., 4.2 million were because of degrading heart conditions. World Heart Federation published an extensive report on this subject.
Talking about 2019, with 900,000 air pollution-related deaths resulting in heart stroke and almost 2 million deaths from air pollution-related coronary heart disease, there has been an increase of between 20 and 27 percent in comparison to the respective percentage in the year 2010 in every region defined under the World Health Organization, except for the Americas and Europe.
Particulate matter i.e., PM10 and PM 2.5 is another deadly material that can easily enter human body such as lungs and bloodstream. Between 2010 and 2019, their concentration has declined by 1 percent annually though still standing over six times the quantity recommended by the World Health Organization.
14 percent of the entire world countries have only managed a large decline in particulate matter during this time period, largely being the European states while countries like Angola, Liberia or Sierra Leone had registered the greatest rise.
Previous researches have indicated a negative effect of air pollution on obesity and diabetes consequently pushing many people towards heart diseases.
Extreme Weather Events Contributing to Heart-related Deaths
Climate change as it goes, has increased the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as cyclones and floods. Even if one evades the physical injuries, these events make the existence stressful.
Chronic stress if persistent can cause heavy impact on heart health; with elevated blood pressures come an increased heart rate. Mental health issues and other disturbances can further add to this chaos.
“Climate change is altering ecosystems, enabling the spread of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue, which can affect blood cell counts and immune responses. These diseases, combined with the effects of dehydration, further strain the heart, increasing the risk of cardiovascular events in vulnerable individuals”, adds one of the studies’ contributors.
If we think harder, these irrelevant diseases can indirectly impact the heart too. Say, malaria can lead to anaemia which can cause the heart to work harder if it has to meet the oxygen demand throughout the body. This excess strain coupled with dehydration can make heart attacks and other cardiovascular events nearly possible.
Malnutrition and Heart Health
For keeping up the heart health, nutrition in human body needs to be maintained as well. Unfortunately, climate change alters this availability.
Crop yields are beginning to decline due to change in weather patterns and are further projected to erupt market problems, leading to food shortages and higher prices.
A poor diet often leads to obesity, hypertension, and other cardiovascular diseases.
Mitigation Comes Easy
Despite the ongoing measures, heart health requires concerted efforts from an individual, governments, healthcare providers and biologists working to ascertain the growing impact of climate change on the same.
Public health campaigns raising their voice and awareness about the importance of environmental sustainability have a bigger role to play.
Regular physical activity needs to be encouraged too. Exercise helps in promoting a healthy weight, low blood pressure, and stress reduction.
The link between climate change and heart health is undeniable. When the normal habitat of any organism, say, humans alter, it becomes vital to be proactive in mitigating these risks through lifestyle changes and environmental awareness. Our health and that of our planet works in tandem. Easy to understand, easy to act!