Studies Cold weather critical for health as hot

More deaths from cold weather than from hot weather
"Cold is the cause of death twenty times more often than heat." This was the result of a study by researchers from the Institute for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London. Thus, not great heat is responsible for most deaths, but cool temperatures. Most studies have so far focused on the health effects of extreme heat, but not on the threat of cold. According to the researchers, their study is "the largest study of the relationship between temperature and health."

Cold is 20 times more likely to cause death than heat
Researchers led by Antonio Gasparrini of the Hygiene and Tropical Institute in London examined 74 million deaths between 1985 and 2012 in 13 countries (384 regions). In Europe, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK were represented. The data was set in relation to an ideal temperature calculated individually for each country. As it turned out, cold was the cause of death twenty times more often than heat. While the cardiovascular system is particularly affected by heat, the risk of respiratory problems and weakened immune systems increases with cold temperatures.

Cold is worse than heat. Image: Sergey Nivens / fotolia

According to the study, heat accounted for only 0.42 percent of all deaths, while the cold accounted for 7.29 percent. Another surprising result is extreme temperatures. Both in freezing cold and in high heat, there were relatively few deaths due to temperature (less than one percent). "It is believed that the biggest casualties are weather extremes. But that has primarily to do with the fact that much of the research is focused on heat waves, "quotes the news agency" APA "study director Gasparrini.

Most of the climate-related deaths were recorded on slightly too cold days, and a bit less on moderately warm days. In Madrid, for example, most people died at eight degrees. At 25 degrees, the curve had its second highest rash. In contrast, the curve showed no appreciable rashes at temperatures around zero and over 30 degrees. For Spain, the researchers found a temperature of 22 degrees as ideal for health.

Extreme temperatures could have a smaller impact on mortality than previously thought
The highest temperature-related mortality was due to cold. The impact of extreme temperature days was much less than that of mild but not optimal temperature, "the researchers summarized in the journal The Lancet. "This evidence has important implications for planning public health measures that should be taken to minimize the health consequences of adverse temperatures and for predicting future impacts in climate change scenarios."

Critical voices, however, warn against over-interpretation of the results. For example, two researchers from the Chinese Duke Kunshan University doubt the validity of the study. In a commentary, Keith Dear and Zhang Wang write that important factors that also affect mortality, such as age, health status, economic status or air pollution, have not been taken into account. (Ag)