Extreme Temperatures Linked to Increased Risk for Stroke Death

FRIDAY, May 24, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Extreme cold and hot temperatures are associated with an increased risk for death from ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, according to a study published online May 22 in Stroke.

Barrak Alahmad, M.D., Ph.D., from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues built a new mortality database for ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke within the Multi-Country Multi-City Network by applying a unified analysis protocol. A multinational case-crossover study was conducted on the relationship between extreme temperatures and stroke. Excess deaths in each city attributed to the 2.5 percent hottest and coldest days were computed based on each city's temperature distribution.

Data were obtained for 3,443,969 ischemic stroke deaths and 2,454,267 hemorrhagic stroke deaths from 522 cities in 25 countries. The researchers found that extreme cold and hot days contributed 9.1 and 2.2 excess deaths, respectively, for every 1,000 ischemic stroke deaths and 11.2 and 0.7 excess deaths, respectively, for every 1,000 hemorrhagic stroke deaths. Countries with low versus high gross domestic product per capita had an increased risk for heat-related hemorrhagic stroke mortality.

"As temperatures become more extreme, we foresee an increase in fatal strokes and a widening disparity in stroke mortality between high- and low-income countries, as the latter are likely to bear the brunt of climate change," Alahmad said in a statement.

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