Heart Health
Weather and air pollution linked to heart-related hospitalizations
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- Reviewed by Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
A model that takes weather and air pollution into account may help forecast future heart problems, according to a study in the June 2023 issue of JACC Advances.
To create the model, researchers looked at atmospheric and weather data in tandem with hospital admissions for heart failure, heart attack, and stroke over a 10-year period. They analyzed data on more than 24 million Canadians, divided into five progressive age groups, ranging from age 18 to over 70. Lower temperatures, high wind speed, atmospheric pressure, high precipitation, and high degrees of pollution were all linked to high risk of being hospitalized with one of the serious cardiovascular conditions, particularly in older people.
According to the authors, the environmental factors they identified could one day be used to help predict the incidence of cardiovascular problems, enabling better planning during high-risk periods. In addition, people could be advised to avoid going outside and to be extra careful during times of unfavorable weather and poor air quality.
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About the Author
Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter
About the Reviewer
Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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