An epidemiological study from China indicates that the risk of a heart attack is especially high during periods of hot summer heat. If mortality from such acute heart conditions increases with summer temperatures, it will increase again if there are high concentrations of particulate matter in the air at the same time.
Chinese scientists have been analyzing data from Jiangsu province as part of their scientific work. It lies in the transition zone from a temperate to a subtropical climate. In the summer it can get very hot with average temperatures of 29 degrees Celsius to 32 degrees Celsius. In winter, there are numerous days with average temperatures below freezing, according to the Deutsches Ärzteblatt on the study, which was published in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association (AHA).
More deaths from heart attacks due to heat
The team led by Yuewei Liu of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou linked the heart attack deaths of 202,678 residents from 2015 to 2020 with weather records. The results initially indicated an increase in heart attack mortality from two days with temperatures above 28 degrees Celsius. The number of deaths from acute heart disease rose by 18 percent.
During a four-day heat wave of more than 35 degrees Celsius, 74 percent more deaths from heart attacks were recorded. However, there were many more fatal heart attacks with significant particulate pollution.
“The death rate from heart attack doubled when particulate matter levels rose above 37.5 micrograms per cubic meter during a four-day heat wave (the WHO daily limit is 45 micrograms per cubic meter). In contrast, during cold snaps, particulate matter pollution had no effect on the risk of death from a heart attack,” the medical journal wrote.
Low risk of death from the common cold
The influence of the cold was significantly lower: after two days with a temperature of 0.7 to 4.7 degrees Celsius, the risk of dying from a heart attack increased by four percent. If the temperature dropped below 2.8 degrees Celsius for three days, 12 percent more people died of a heart attack.
Source: Krone
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