Temperature rise may increase burden on hospitals: Study

 

New Delhi: A temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius would increase the burden on hospitals from hyponatremia – a condition when the body has critically low sodium levels in the blood — by almost 14 per cent, according to a recent study that highlights how climate change-induced extreme wave conditions threaten the well-being of the people.

 “Heat stress would leave them hospitalized due to critically low sodium levels in the blood which causes nausea, dizziness, muscle cramps, seizures and even coma,”  according to the findings published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

The study comes close on the heels of the IPCC report which recently projected that global warming will intensify the health effects of heat waves. “Heat waves are periods of unusually hot weather, typically lasting for 2 or more days, outside the historical averages for a given area. Heat waves have happened in the past, but climate change is making heat waves longer, more extreme, and more frequent,” said the report. It identifies India as among the most vulnerable in terms of agriculture, health impact with climate change making its presence felt everywhere, be it in the form of heat waves or floods.

In the current study, the researchers linked data on Sweden's entire adult population to information on 24-hour mean temperatures over a nine-year period. In that time, more than 11,000 were hospitalized with a principal diagnosis of hyponatremia, most of whom were women with a median age of 76. Average daily temperatures ranged from -10 to 26 degrees Celsius. When people consume more water during heat waves to cool themselves down, they subsequently increase their odds of diluting the sodium in their bodies, said the latest study. “The body needs sodium to maintain normal blood pressure, support the function of nerves and muscles and regulate the fluid balance in and around our cells,” said the study. The researchers found an almost tenfold increased risk for hospitalization due to hyponatremia on the hottest days compared with the coolest periods. Women and elderly carried the greatest risk, with individuals 80 years or older 15 times more likely to be hospitalized for hyponatremia during heat waves. The incidence of hyponatremia was largely stable from -10 to 10 degrees Celsius but increased rapidly at temperatures above 15.

When the researchers applied the data to a prognostic model forecasting global warming of 1 or 2 degrees Celsius, in line with IPCC climate projections for 2050, they found that hospital admissions due to hyponatremia could be expected to increase by 6.3 percent and 13.9 percent, respectively.

"We believe these estimates are quite conservative seeing as we didn't account for secondary diagnoses of hyponatremia, extreme weather events or an aging population," said Jonatan Lindh, associate professor at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, and co-last author of the study.

(AGENCIES)