Story at a glance
- A new review found climate change is associated with worsening symptoms of multiple sclerosis and other neurologic diseases.
- The effects are due to the effects of temperature fluctuations, extreme weather events and airborne pollution.
- Around 100 million Americans currently suffer from a disorder that affects the brain, nerves or spinal cord.
Climate change may be making the symptoms of headaches, dementia, multiple sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson’s disease worse, according to results of a new review.
It’s estimated around 100 million Americans suffer from at least one neurologic disease and their prevalence is growing.
Researchers in the review, which was published in the journal Neurology, assessed more than 360 articles published between 1990 and 2022 to determine to what extent temperature changes, extreme weather events and air pollution affect neurologic diseases.
They found that those with certain diseases could experience worse symptoms due to climate change and that the phenomenon may also result in an increased prevalence of stroke. Up to 4 percent of stroke risk could be attributed to temperature and its variability alone, authors wrote.
“Although the international community seeks to reduce global temperature rise to under 2.7 ºF before 2100, irreversible environmental changes have already occurred, and as the planet warms these changes will continue to occur,” said review author Andrew Dhawan of Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and a member of the American Academy of Neurology in a statement.
“As we witness the effects of a warming planet on human health, it is imperative that neurologists anticipate how neurologic disease may change.”
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All of the studies, which only contained data on adults, were broken down into three categories: studies on the impact of pollution; extreme weather events and temperature fluctuations; and emerging neuroinfectious diseases.
The studies also detailed associations between warming climates and tick- and mosquito-borne infections.
The review found that extreme weather events and temperature changes were linked with stroke incidence and severity, migraines, hospitalization among patients with dementia and worsening MS.
In the past 10 years alone, 90 percent of U.S. counties have experienced at least one federal climate disaster.
Exposure to airborne pollutants, especially particulate matter 2.5 — “pollutant particles of less than 2.5 microns in diameter” — and nitrates, were associated with stroke incidence and severity, headaches, dementia risk, Parkinson’s disease and MS exacerbation, authors added.
Climate change also increases favorable conditions for certain diseases like West Nile Virus, meningococcal meningitis and tick-borne encephalitis to propagate beyond traditional regions, posing heightened disease risks in new populations.
In 2022, there were more than 900 reported cases of West Nile Virus in the United States, according to the CDC.
The findings come on the heels of research that found one way to prevent future pandemics is to stop destroying natural wildlife habitats. As more species’ habitats are destroyed and animals migrate to different regions, often closer to humans, it increases the risk of diseases spreading across species.
Several mechanisms could explain the relationship between climate change and physiological changes, including a phenomenon of accelerated aging, researchers wrote.
Articles included in the review tended to be conducted in resource-rich regions, suggesting a disconnect between where research takes places and where changes are most acute, they added. Low-income countries, despite contributing the least to climate change, often bear a disproportionate burden of its consequences.
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