Health Findings

Global climate change linked to heat deaths

Human-induced global warming is responsible for a significant portion of worldwide heat deaths, finds a new study.

Published in May in Nature Climate Change, the study — the largest of its kind — is based on data from 732 locations in 43 countries. Overall, researchers found that between 1991 and 2018, 37% of all heat-related deaths in summer periods were attributable to warming caused by human activity. The percentages of heat deaths attributed to human-induced climate change were highest in Central and South America and in Southeast Asia.

Researchers also calculated heat deaths due to human-induced climate change in specific cities. They estimated an additional 136 deaths per year in Santiago, Chile; 189 in Athens, Greece; 172 in Rome; 156 in Tokyo; 177 in Madrid; 146 in Bangkok; 141 in New York City; 82 in London; and 137 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

“This is the largest detection and attribution study on current health risks of climate change,” said study co-author Antonio Gasparrini, PhD, MSc, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in a news release. “The message is clear: Climate change will not just have devastating impacts in the future. Every continent is already experiencing the dire consequences of human activities on our planet. We must act now.’

Urban parks, such as this one in New York City, were a popular getaway in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo by Kirkikis, courtesy iStockphoto

Park usage did not spread COVID-19

Parks have been an important place of refuge during the COVID-19 pandemic, boosting both mental and physical health. But one thing parks did not boost was the spread of COVID-19, a recent study finds.

Published in April in the Journal of Extreme Events, the study surveyed park visitors between May and July 2020 at small- and mid-sized parks in New York City and Philadelphia. Researchers also compared park usage numbers to rates of COVID-19 transmission in areas directly surrounding the parks. They found that regardless of the city or social vulnerability of nearby neighborhoods, parks were used more often in densely populated areas. But that usage was not associated with greater transmission of COVID-19, the study found.

While observing park users, researchers found that a low percentage of park users — about 28% in Philadelphia and 1.2% in New York — did not wear masks and few people were observed frequently taking part in contact sports.

“People continued to visit parks throughout the study, underscoring their evident value as respite for urban residents during the early phases of the pandemic,” the study said.

Air pollution may worsen mental health

Exposure to air pollution in childhood can lead to mental health problems later in life, according to a recent study.

Published in April in JAMA Network Open, the multi-decade study of young adults in the U.K. found greater rates of mental illness symptoms among people who were exposed to high levels of traffic-related air pollution — especially nitrogen oxide — during childhood and adolescence. The study cohort included about 2,000 twins born in England and Wales in 1994 and 1995 who were followed into young adulthood. Researchers said the pollution association persisted even after accounting for individual or family-level factors as well as neighborhood characteristics.

Overall, the study found that air pollution was a weaker risk factor for mental illness than other contributors such as family history, but was of equal strength to other neurotoxins known to impact mental health such as lead.

“Given the ubiquity of this exposure, air pollution could represent a meaningful contributor to the global burden of psychiatric illness, particularly in poor air quality regions,” the study stated.

People who follow their innate sleep patterns experience greater health and well-being, a study published in June finds.

Photo by Burakkarademir, courtesy iStockphoto

Sleep patterns matter for health, well-being

People who have sleep patterns that go against their natural body clock are also more likely to report depression and poorer well-being, a new study finds.

The study, published in June in Molecular Psychiatry, builds on previous research that mapped out 351 genes linked to being an early riser or a night owl and analyzed data on more than 450,000 British adults from the UK Biobank, a large-scale biomedical database and research resource. They found that genetically being an early riser may be protective against major depression and improve well-being. However, they noted that such outcomes may also be due to the fact that being an early riser better aligns with typical working hours.

They also found that people with sleep patterns that did not align with their natural body clock were more likely to report depression and anxiety, as well as poorer well-being.

“Our findings also build on existing evidence of circadian misalignment in shift workers, who often work against their diurnal preference, with some studies suggesting that these individuals have a higher prevalence of depression and lower well-being,” the study stated.

Alcohol addiction often left untreated

Even though most people with an alcohol use disorder regularly visit doctors, very few ever receive treatment for their problem, according to a recent study.

Using 2015-2019 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, researchers found that about 8% of participants met the criteria for an alcohol use disorder, which is the medical diagnosis for an addiction to alcohol. Of those people, 81% had received medical care in a doctor’s office or spent time in a hospital or clinic in the last year.

But the study, published in June in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, also found that just 12% had been advised to decrease their drinking, just 5% were offered information about treatment, and 6% received treatment.

Overall, the study found that most people with an alcohol use disorder had access to health care and were asked about alcohol use, but did not receive further recommendations or information about treatment. Researchers warned that U.S. alcohol sales went up significantly during the pandemic, which could push up the number of people with an addiction.

“We used to see the same thing with smoking, but when physicians became educated about smoking and learned that many of their patients wanted to quit or cut back, doctors began offering more treatment, and more people were able to quit,” said study co-author Laura Jean Bierut, MD, a professor of psychiatry at Washington University, in a news release. “We think the same thing may be possible with alcohol.’

Cardiovascular deaths rise during COVID-19

A rise in cardiovascular deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans, finds a new study.

Published in May in Circulation, the study is based on cause-of-death data from the National Center for Health Statistics between March 2020 and August 2020. Researchers found that Black, Hispanic and Asian populations each experienced about a 19% relative increase in heart disease deaths and 13% relative increase in cerebrovascular disease deaths in 2020 compared to the prior year. In contrast, whites experienced a 2% and 4% relative increase, respectively.

Researchers said a number of factors likely contributed, including disruptions to health care delivery in minority communities hit hard by COVID-19, as well as inequitable access to telemedicine.