Summary: A new study finds a significant link between hot nights and an increased risk of stroke, particularly among older adults and women. Researchers analyzed 15 years of data from Augsburg University Hospital and found a 7% increased risk of stroke after tropical nights. The study highlights the need for adaptation strategies and adjustments to urban planning to mitigate the impact of rising nighttime temperatures on public health.
Highlights:
- Hot nights increase the risk of stroke by 7%, especially among older people and women.
- The risk of stroke linked to hot nights has increased significantly in recent years.
- Researchers are developing recommendations for adaptation strategies and urban planning to mitigate this risk.
Source: Helmholtz
Climate change is leading to more and more extreme weather events. These include extremely hot, so-called tropical nights.
The research team led by Dr. Alexandra Schneider studied the effects of nighttime heat on stroke risk.
“We wanted to understand to what extent high nighttime temperatures pose a health risk,” explains the head of the Environmental Risks working group at Helmholtz Munich.
“This is important because climate change is causing nighttime temperatures to rise much faster than daytime temperatures.”
Data on 11,000 strokes from age 15
In their study, the researchers analyzed data from Augsburg University Hospital. Its neurology department has collected data on about 11,000 strokes over 15 years. Analysis shows that extreme heat at night increases the risk of stroke by seven percent.
“Elderly people and women are particularly at risk, and it is mainly strokes with mild symptoms that are diagnosed in clinics after hot nights,” says lead study author Dr. Cheng He .
“Our results clearly show that adjustments to urban planning and the health system are extremely important in reducing the risks posed by rising nighttime temperatures.”
This is all the more true since “we were able to demonstrate that the risk of stroke associated with high nighttime temperatures increased significantly between 2013 and 2020 compared to the period 2006 to 2012”, as Professor Michael Ertl, director of the stroke unit and the neurovascular working group at the University Hospital Augsburg, emphasizes.
From 2006 to 2012, hot nights led to two additional strokes per year in the study area; from 2013 to 2020, there were 33 additional cases per year.
Recommendations for adaptation and urban planning strategies
The researchers plan to make their findings applicable in practical settings. To do this, they are working on recommendations for public adaptation and urban planning strategies, such as reducing the intensity of urban heat islands.
The objective is to better protect the population from the effects of nighttime heat. The study will also serve as a basis for further research aimed at developing targeted preventive measures against factors that promote stroke.
“The sooner these preventive measures are implemented, the better,” believes Alexandra Schneider.
The study results are also of great importance for hospitals. In the future, they will be able to better adapt to the frequency of strokes: if the weather forecast predicts a warm night, more cases can be expected to arrive at clinics.
This allows clinics to make more staff available to treat patients as a precautionary measure, explains Professor Markus Naumann, director of the Augsburg Neurological University Hospital.
Background: What are tropical nights?
“Tropical nights” are defined using what is called the “Hot Night Excess Index” (HNE). It measures the extent to which temperatures exceed a certain threshold value at night. The threshold value is the temperature that is exceeded only on the warmest five percent of nights of the entire study period.
In this study, this value is 14.6°C. If temperatures exceed this value at night, it is called a tropical night. The HNE index adds the number of degrees of temperatures above this threshold during the night to determine heat intensity.
About this stroke research news
Author: Verena Coscia
Source: Helmholtz
Contact: Verena Coscia–Helmholtz
Picture: Image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Free access.
“Increased risk for all and ischemic stroke associated with nighttime heat exposure” by Alexandra Schneider et al. European Journal of the Heart
Abstract
Increased risk for all and ischemic stroke associated with nighttime heat exposure
Context and objectives
Over the past few decades, nighttime temperatures have increased faster than daytime temperatures. The increasing prevalence of nighttime heat exposure may pose a significant risk to cardiovascular health. This study investigated the association between nighttime heat exposure and stroke risk in the Augsburg region, Germany, and examined its temporal variations over 15 years.
Methods
Hourly meteorological parameters, including mean temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure, were acquired from a local weather station. A dataset was obtained including 11,037 clinical cases of stroke diagnosed during the warmer months (May to October) between 2006 and 2020. The average age of the cases was 71.3 years. Of these cases, 642 were identified as hemorrhagic strokes, 7,430 were classified as ischemic strokes, and 2,947 were transient ischemic attacks.
A time-stratified cross-case analysis with a distributed lag nonlinear model was used to estimate the risk of stroke associated with extreme nighttime heat, as measured by the excess hot night index ( EST) after controlling for potential confounding effects of the daily maximum. temperature and other climatic variables. Subgroup analyzes by age group, gender, stroke subtype, and stroke severity were performed to identify variations in nighttime heat sensitivity.
Results
Results suggest a significant increase in stroke risk on days with extreme nighttime heat (97.5% EST percentile) (odds ratio 1.07, 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.15 ) throughout the study period. When we compare the results of 2013-2020 with those of 2006-2012, we see a significant increase (P.
Conclusions
This study found that nighttime heat exposure was linked to an elevated risk of stroke after controlling for maximum daytime temperature, with increasing susceptibility between 2006 and 2020. These results highlight the importance of considering heat nighttime as a critical trigger for stroke in a warming climate.
News Source : neurosciencenews.com
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