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World Health Day: The Adverse Health Effects Of Climate Change And How To Reduce The Risks

World Health Day: The Adverse Health Effects Of Climate Change And How To Reduce The Risks
'Our Planet Our Health'

'Our Planet Our Health': Climate change will potentially lead to shifts in precipitation patterns, more frost-free days, warmer seasonal air temperatures, and more carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.

Written by Editorial Team |Updated : April 7, 2022 10:39 AM IST

Over 13 million deaths around the world each year are due to avoidable environmental causes, according to World Health Organization (WHO). While climate crisis is identified as the single biggest health threat facing humanity, air pollution is considered the single greatest environmental risk to human health. Despite being one of the main avoidable causes of death and disease globally, air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide each year. Every year, 7 April is celebrated as World Health Day to draw attention to a health topic of concern to the world. The day also marks the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization in 1948.

This year, the theme of World Health Day is "Our Planet, Our Health". With this theme, WHO aims to bring attention on the urgent actions needed to keep humans and the planet healthy and foster a movement to create societies focused on well-being.

Let us admit that our planet has gone through a lot of changes, and this will continue, posing serious health effects, one of them is "ALLERGY said Dr. Hardip Dharsandia, Chief of Laboratory Services (Rajkot, Gujarat), Metropolis Healthcare Ltd.

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Talking to The HealthSite on the occasion of the World Health Day, Dr. Dharsandia, highlighted some of the adverse health effects of climate change as well as some actions that should be taken by us to reduce these risks.

Climate Change And Health

Emphasizing this year's World Health Day theme 'Our Planet Our Health', Dr. Dharsandia stated that climate change will potentially lead to shifts in precipitation patterns, more frost-free days, warmer seasonal air temperatures, and more carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.

Further, he said that climate change can impact our health in a myriad of ways. Excerpts:

Allergens and Pollen

Climate change will potentially lead to both higher pollen concentrations and longer pollen seasons, causing more people to suffer more health effects from pollen and other allergens. Pollen is an airborne allergen that can affect our health. Pollen grains are tiny "seeds" dispersed from flowering plants, trees, grass, and weeds.

Pollen exposure can trigger various allergic reactions, including symptoms of hay fever. Hay fever, also known as "allergic rhinitis", occurs when allergens like pollen enter your body and your immune system mistakenly identifies them as a threat. If you have allergic rhinitis, your body then responds to the allergen by releasing chemicals that can cause symptoms in the nose. Symptoms of allergic rhinitis can occur during certain seasons or year-round, depending on the allergen, Symptoms from allergic rhinitis include sneezing, runny nose, and congestion.

Pollen exposure can also trigger symptoms of "allergic conjunctivitis". Allergic conjunctivitis is the inflammation of the lining of the eye (conjunctiva) due to exposure to allergens like those in pollen. Allergic conjunctivitis is found in up to 30 per cent of the general population and as many as 7 out of 10 of patients with allergic rhinitis. Symptoms from allergic conjunctivitis include red, watery, or itchy eyes.

People with respiratory illnesses like "asthma" may be more sensitive to pollen. Exposure to pollen has been linked to asthma attacks and increases in hospital admissions for respiratory illness. Higher pollen concentrations and longer pollen seasons can also make you more sensitive to allergens. This can trigger asthma episodes in individuals with asthma and diminish productive work and school days.

Heat and Health

Another adverse effect of climate change is "Heat and Health"

Global temperatures and the frequency and intensity of heatwaves will rise in the 21st century as a result of climate change. Extended periods of high day and night-time temperatures create cumulative physiological stress on the human body which exacerbates the top causes of death globally, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus and renal disease. Heatwaves can acutely impact large populations for short periods of time, often trigger public health emergencies, and result in excess mortality, and cascading socioeconomic impacts (e.g., lost work capacity and labour productivity). They can also cause loss of health service delivery capacity, where power-shortages which often accompany heatwaves disrupt health facilities, transport, and water infrastructure.

Awareness remains insufficient of the health risks posed by heatwaves and prolonged exposure to increased temperatures. Health professionals must adjust their planning and interventions to account for increasing temperatures and heatwaves. Practical, feasible, and often low-cost interventions at the individual, community, organizational, governmental, and societal levels, can save lives.

What actions should the public take?

Keep your home cool

  • Aim to keep your living space cool. Check the room temperature between 08:00 and 10:00, at 13:00 and at night after 22:00. Ideally, the room temperature should be kept below 32 C during the day and 24 C during the night. This is especially important for infants or people who are over 60 years of age or have chronic health conditions.

Keep the body cool and hydrated

  • Take cool showers or baths. Alternatives include cold packs and wraps, towels, sponging, foot baths, etc.
  • Wear light, loose-fitting clothes of natural materials. If you go outside, wear a wide-brimmed hat or cap and sunglasses.
  • Use light bed linen and sheets, and no cushions, to avoid heat accumulation.
  • Drink water regularly but avoid alcohol and too much caffeine and sugar.

Avoid heat

  • Avoid going outside during the hottest time of the day.
  • Avoid strenuous physical activity if you can. If want to do any strenuous activity, do it during the coolest part of the day, which is usually in the morning between 4:00 and 7:00.
  • Do not leave children or animals in parked vehicles.

"Let us try to save our planet and so is our Health."