By Yemi Olakitan
The foetuses of pregnant farmers, who are among those most negatively impacted by global warming, are suffering from the rising temperatures brought on by climate breakdown.
According to a study, as the temperature rose, the heart rates of the foetuses of women labouring in the fields in The Gambia increased alarmingly and the blood flow to the placenta decreased. The majority of agricultural labour is performed by women, many of whom work during pregnancy, who also informed the scientists that temperatures had risen significantly over the previous ten years.
Strong evidence suggests that high heat increases the risk of stillbirths, preterm deliveries, and low birth weights, however this information comes from wealthy, temperate nations. For the first time, a new study is concentrating on subsistence farmers in a tropical nation where rising excessive heat is a real problem.
Even if the global temperature is held within the internationally agreed-upon limit of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, hundreds of millions of people, including mothers, are likely to be subjected to excessive heat worldwide.
The study is the first step toward figuring out why foetuses suffer when pregnant women are under stress from heat. Sweating, which causes dehydration, and the transfer of blood and oxygen from the placenta to the mother’s skin to cool the body are two potential causes. By planting trees to shade both people and crops, the scientists hope to support policies that safeguard expecting mothers and foetuses.
The study’s principal investigator, Dr. Ana Bonell, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Medical Research Council Unit in The Gambia, stated: “Our study found that pregnant subsistence farmers frequently experience levels of extreme heat above recommended outdoor working limits, and that this can have significant effects on their health and the health of their babies.
We were very surprised to see that this impact on the foetus occurred in 34% of visits (to the fields).
The health of foetuses, newborns, and infants around the world is being harmed by the climate catastrophe, according to a number of research released in January. Researchers found a connection between elevated temperatures and babies’ rapid weight gain, which raises their chance of becoming obese later in life. Premature births, which can have long-term health repercussions, and an increase in young children being admitted to hospitals were also linked to higher temperatures.
92 pregnant subsistence farmers from a remote area of The Gambia participated in the study, which was written up in the journal Lancet Planetary Health. The typical air temperature during working hours over the course of the seven-month trial was 33.5C. (92.3F).
The heart rates of expecting moms and foetuses were also recorded by the investigators, along with humidity and the women’s temperatures. The likelihood of foetal distress increased by 20% when the woman’s body temperature and heart rate increased by one category in a heat strain index, the researchers discovered. Heart rates over 160 beats per minute or a decreased blood supply to the placenta as determined by an ultrasound scan were indicators of foetal distress.
The scientists also discovered that the probability of foetal distress increased by 17% when a measure of heat stress rose by 1C. Even after accounting for the rise in the woman’s temperature and heart rate, it increased by 12%, indicating that the foetus is also being affected by other variables. Dehydration, poor placental blood flow, or inflammation brought on by the heat are a few examples.
During field assessments, it was discovered that nearly 60% of the female workers had experienced at least one symptom of heat illness. Headache, lightheadedness, weakness, cramping in the muscles, nausea, and dry mouth were among the symptoms.
Bonell stated: “First and foremost, I would just propose ending the use of fossil fuels — that’s the big picture.”
Additionally, very hot and cold days are associated to about one in one hundred fatalities from heart disease.
More people died on days with severe temperatures, both hot and cold, according to a global survey of more than 32 million cardiovascular disease deaths.
Extreme heat days were linked to 2.2 extra fatalities per 1,000 cardiovascular deaths, while extreme cold days were linked to 9.1 extra deaths per 1,000.
The experts are now calling for the creation of standards to lessen the effects of severe temperatures.
Climate change, which is primarily brought on by people burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, is causing more frequent and intense heat waves to occur on Earth. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the past eight years have been the warmest on record for humans.
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According to some studies, climate change may also be responsible for extreme winter weather, such as that which Texas experienced in February 2021.
Recently, a group of researchers from around the world came together to investigate the effects of climate change on cardiovascular health. The American Heart Association (AHAflagship )’s journal Circulation, which has published a paper about their work, explains that the researchers discovered more deaths on days when temperatures were at their highest and lowest.
The study finds that people with cardiovascular disease (CVD), such as ischemic heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and arrhythmia, are more likely to die in extreme hot and cold temperatures.
On sweltering days, the heart diverts blood away from the vital organs and toward the cooler depths of the skin.
Dr. Barrak Alahmad, the study’s lead author and a mission scholar at the College of Public Health at Kuwait University in Kuwait City as well as a research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said to Medical News Today that sweating also occurs.
“This might cause volume depletion, which would raise heart rate. The metabolic state and oxygen consumption will both increase when the core body temperature rises. Additionally, fluid changes and an electrolyte imbalance could occur (specifically, potassium, magnesium). He continued, “All of them [cascade] in those who are vulnerable.
The AHA advises that in hot weather, persons who are elderly, obese, have high blood pressure, or have a history of heart disease should take precautions including staying hydrated and avoiding outdoor activities in the early afternoon.
“In order to maintain and produce heat, blood vessels will constrict and skeletal muscles will become more toned. Blood pressure will rise as a result. Some researchers hypothesised that cold triggers heart attacks by causing cholesterol crystals to build up in blood arteries. According to some researchers, the cold makes your blood more sticky, which raises your risk of having a heart attack, said Dr. Alahmad.
International endeavour
The Multi-County Multi-City Collaborative Research Network, an international partnership of scientists seeking epidemiological evidence of links “between environmental stressors, climate, and health,” provided the data that the research team headed by D. Alahmad used for this study.
They examined more than 32 million cardiovascular deaths that occurred between 1979 and 2019 in 567 cities across 27 nations on five continents. Weather stations and climate reanalysis models were used by researchers to generate city-specific daily temperatures.
Researchers compared cardiovascular deaths on days with the ideal temperature (the temperature linked with the lowest rates of mortality) in the same city with cardiovascular deaths on the hottest and coldest 2.5% of days for each city.
The researchers discovered that extreme hot days caused 2.2 additional deaths and extreme cold days caused 9.1 additional deaths for every 1,000 deaths from CVD.
“We now know that at least one additional death results from excessive cold and heat for every 100 cardiovascular fatalities. This ultimately translates into a very substantial burden, as cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality worldwide, according to Dr. Alahmad.
The researchers discovered that, of all heart diseases, heart failure was responsible for the majority of mortality from high temperatures.
In the meantime, 37% of the CVD fatalities that researchers looked at were caused by ischemic heart disease. According to their calculations, “extreme temperatures alone are connected to 1% of all ischemic heart disorders.”
Extreme heat and death from arrhythmia did not appear to be significantly correlated, according to the study. The researchers speculate that this might be due to arrhythmia being mistakenly listed as the cause of death while ischemia or cardiomyopathy was actually to blame.
In Houston, Texas, at Memorial Hermann, interventional cardiologist Dr. Don Pham praised the study for offering “a novel and fascinating approach to prevention.”
In the winter or summer, when the weather has significantly altered in your area, “I think this serves as a good reminder to patients to pay attention to any new symptoms that develop,” he told MNT.
Even while the study focused on cities across a wide range of nations, other regions of the globe received less consideration.
