Extremely Hot Weather Can Age You as Much as Smoking

This story was originally published Gristor. Sign up for Grist Weekly Bulletin here.

In the 1960s, two white men live in hundreds of distances and one in Arizona and the other in Washington. They are the same age and have the same socio-economic backgrounds. They also have similar habits and are in the same physical form. However, the man in Arizona, is getting older than the person in Washington – 14 months should be accurate. What a person smokes or drinks. Both exercises work regularly. Why does it live in the desert than a colleague of Pacific northwest of the Pacific Northwest, southwest?

One Education published this week Magazine scientific developments are doing their work in millions of extreme heating in the American refrigerators. The impact of chronic exposure to high temperatures, researchers, habit smoking is equal to the impact of cellal aging.

As the global average temperature burning the fuel, the global population is exposed to the more killed in the global population More than 21,000 Americans have died since 1999. In 2023, Phoenix, Arizona, Arizona, saw the analysis of some people Fahrenheit 31 days above 110 degree. That year was Record the hottest year Globally scale – a record Quickly overwhelm by 2024.

The above average heat has exposure Serious short and long-term health demonstrations. People can live with heat-related diseases such as dehydration and fainting, or heat stroke – the form of heat-related disease that can result in death. Elderly adults and young children are particularly sensitive to these effects, because these effects are protected by thermoregulating or continuous internal body temperature. Can be heated for months and years Increase existing chronic conditions Like a kidney and cardiovascular disease and raise the risk of a person Mental health problems and dementia.

A post-in-house Gerontological researcher in Leonard Devis, Southern California, the author of Gerontology and Management, especially those who approached the 60s, wanted to learn that extreme temperature can manage long-term health results. He was particularly interested in the “non-clinical manifestations” of the heat exposure, ie as he thought that the heat-related illness or heating stroke was affected by how he did not show in emergency rooms. Hypothesis, the temperature is far from the general health, no one could feel acute.

To try this theory, Choi analyzed the blood samples of more than 3600 people and more than 56 years old in a great national health and pension. These participants received a blood test in 2016 or in 2017 or in 2017. Choi and his, Jennifer Ailshire, then using the weather and climate information to estimate the “heat day” by the National Weather Service, each participant was exposed to the history of the blood test in months and days. They sorted the participants to the demographic groups based on the race, socio-economic situation, exercise habits and other factors, and then used a certain number of biological tests that a person’s cells were aging.

Read the next: The insulation crisis makes heat waves more deadly

“With longer term heat exposure – a year and six years – we see a consistent union between heat [cellular] The wet “between different biological tests, Choi said. Half of the temperature or people living in 90 degrees, live 14-monthly biological aging compared to people living in areas for less than 90 degrees.

“This study is one of the first empirical assessments that the long-term expansion of the heat is related to the acceleration of the aging process,” he said. This adds to the existing jobs, proposing that the older death may be the result of elderly adults to warm the long-term death. “

Two previous work found that people are under heat and work in mice Consistently display cells in the thermal ageHowever, choi’s work is the first national representation study to take the relationship. The size and diversity of the pool of the subjects helped to strangle many factors that generally use this type of information. There was no main difference between Choi Demographic – an indicator related to warming cells on the board in elderly individuals.

For this, which choi, however, it is suitable for people to adapt to protect from heat. Some people, especially rich Americans, can stay inside with the air conditioning explosion.

Previous studies showed that the above temperature did not affect all the populations. Excessive heat, patch is especially dangerous for people living in a tree covering and large numbers. These zones are called the city’s thermal islands in places such as New York City and Chicago and can get Up to 7 degrees F hot than the surrounding rural areas. City Thermal Islands inclined to overlap the neighborhoods where it is here Unlimited communities were limited to the historically racist zoning experiencewhich is a cause of a medium-colored man exposed to more severe heat more than a non-middle white person in urban areas. These populations are less likely to be Can provide air conditioning.

“We know that people who work outside, populational populations, people living in the heating islands, prisons and low-income residents are commonly found in the extreme heat (for decades),” he said. “Accordingly, some populations we can offer more attention and care for some populations as we have seen predictions for heat waves.”

Choi hopes that future research these differences theater, especially until 2040 5 American will be 65 and older in 1 – In 2000 to 1 to 1 in 8. The results of the Choi’s research affect all age groups, not for only 50 and older. “I do not think that the main biology is significantly different,” he said. “We would expect the important impact of heat in young adults. And we must watch people whose people were born to the old age to see if any of these effects are returned.”

This post appeared first Gristor horse https://grist.org/health/Extreme-Heat-Clulare-Aging-smoking/. Grist is a non-profit media organization dedicated to explaining a climate solution and a fair future stories. Learn more Grist.org