Researchers Find Link Between Extreme Temperature Swings (A La Global Warming), More Heart Attacks
EDIT
The research is based on data from more than 30,000 patients who were treated at 45 Michigan hospitals between 2010 and 2016. All of them had undergone percutaneous coronary intervention, a procedure used to open clogged arteries, after being diagnosed with ST-elevated myocardial infarction, the most serious form of heart attack. The researchers calculated the temperature fluctuation preceding each heart attack based on weather records for the hospital’s ZIP code, defining daily temperature fluctuation as the difference between the highest and lowest recorded on the day of the heart attack.
Overall, the results showed the risk of a heart attack increased by about 5 percent for every five-degree Celsius jump in temperature differential, or 9 degrees Fahrenheit. Changes of more than 25 degrees Celsius, or 45 degrees Fahrenheit, were linked to a greater increase in heart attack rates compared to a smaller increase with temperature swings of 10 to 25 degrees Celsius, or 18–45 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the researchers.
The effect was more pronounced on days with a higher average temperature. In other words, a sudden temperature swing seemed to have a greater impact on warmer days, the researchers said. Based on their calculations, the researchers predicted there could be nearly twice as many heart attacks on a hot summer day with a temperature fluctuation of 35 to 40 degrees Celsius, or 63 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit, than on days with no fluctuation. “That is a striking increase,” Gurm said.
The researchers adjusted for precipitation totals, day of the week and seasonal trends to isolate the effects of daily temperature fluctuations from other potential environmental factors.
EDIT
https://cleantechnica.com/2018/03/24/research-finds-extreme-temperature-fluctuations-linked-increased-rates-heart-attacks/
