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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Extreme heat is miserable and dangerous. It's also making us age faster
The soupy, smothering extreme heat that has scorched parts of the Northern Hemisphere this summer takes a hard toll on our bodies. It can make you feel nauseous, woozy and dehydrated. It can have pernicious health effects on multiple organs. But there's another, less well-known, impact of extreme heat: It makes you age faster. Prolonged exposure to soaring temperatures can cause a deterioration in our cells and tissues and speed up biological aging, according to a new and growing body of research. Chronological age refers to how long a person has lived, but biological — or 'epigenetic' — age measures how well our tissues and cells function. The difference between the two explains why sometimes someone's age does not seem to match their health and vitality. An accelerated biological age is the 'canary in the coal mine' for future risk of earlier onset of diseases such as cancer, dementia and diabetes, and early death, said Jennifer Ailshire, professor of gerontology and sociology at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. As climate change forces people to endure increasingly severe and longer lasting heat waves, scientists say there is an urgency to better understand the ways heat is slowly and silently undermining human health at a cellular level. How does heat accelerate aging? Our DNA is set at birth; it is the blueprint for how the body functions and cannot be changed. But the way DNA is expressed — the way this blueprint is carried out — can be affected by external factors that trigger chemical modifications that turn genes on or off like a light switch. External factors affecting these switches include behaviors, such as smoking and lack of exercise, as well as environmental factors, like heat. Heat stresses the body, making it work harder as it tries to cool down, which can damage cells. While a little bit of heat stress can be good for the body, helping increase resilience, prolonged exposure taxes the body over extended periods and can have long-term consequences. Research on animals has pointed to strong associations between heat and accelerated aging but, until recently, there were very few studies that looked at humans. Ailshire is one of the scientists trying to change that. She and another researcher, Eunyoung Choi, published the first population-scale research into this area in February. They analyzed blood samples taken from a group of more than 3,600 people across the United States aged 56 and above. They used tools called 'epigenetic clocks,' which capture the way DNA is modified and provide an estimate of biological age. They then linked this to daily climate data in participants' locations in the years before the blood samples were taken. Their results, published in February, found people who experienced at least 140 extreme heat days a year — when the heat index, a combination of temperature and humidity, was above 90 degrees Fahrenheit — aged up to 14 months faster than those in locations with less than 10 extreme heat days a year. This link between heat and biological aging remained even when taking into account individual factors such as exercise levels and income, although the study did not look at access to air conditioning or time spent outside. The strength of the association was significant, too. The results showed extreme heat had the same impact on aging as smoking or heavy alcohol use. Their findings are supported by other recent research. A 2023 study of more than 2,000 people in Germany found medium- and long-term exposure to heat was linked to accelerated biological aging. The impacts were particularly pronounced in women, who can be more vulnerable to heat as they tend to sweat less, meaning it's harder for them to cool down. People with diabetes or obesity were also more at risk, the study found. The effects can even start before birth. A 2024 study looked at accelerated biological aging in children in Kenya who were exposed to drought as fetuses. During pregnancy, their mothers endured heat, as well as dehydration and emotional distress. These factors can cause stress at a cellular level that needs to be repaired, which means less energy is available for other vital functions, potentially leading to accelerated aging, the study found. Heat stress can also reduce blood flow to the uterus and placenta. 'So we see an impact on growth that includes lower birth weights and an overall harder start to life — all of which can be reflected in faster biological aging,' said Bilinda Straight, a study author and a professor at the School of Environment, Geography, and Sustainability at Western Michigan University. What can people do? Thiese findings do not mean that everyone living in hot places will experience accelerated aging, Ailshire said. Each person has their own risk factors and there are ways to adapt. Access to cooling and avoiding exercise in the hottest parts of the day are important. Better nutrition, more exercise (in the cool parts of the day) and medication can also help, she added. Scientists have found drugs including metformin, prescribed for diabetes, and weight-loss medication Ozempic could slow aging. If people can change or find ways to adapt to their heat exposure levels, it may be possible to slow or reverse the accelerated aging process, Ailshire said. 'Because that's not permanent damage; it's an indicator of the potential for permanent damage. It doesn't necessarily signify that this damage has been done.' The area of study is very new. 'We are just at the start of understanding this process, particularly in humans,' Rongbin Xu, a research fellow at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University in Australia. But as places warm up, and heat records continue to be smashed, scientists are going to have a lot more data about the myriad ways heat affects our bodies — and who is most vulnerable. 'If we can't do anything about rising temperatures, then at a minimum, we need to be increasing awareness and finding strategies,' Ailshire said. 'There has to be a way that we can get through this.' Solve the daily Crossword
CNN
5 days ago
- Health
- CNN
Extreme heat is making us age faster. Here's how
The soupy, smothering extreme heat that has scorched parts of the Northern Hemisphere this summer takes a hard toll on our bodies. It can make you feel nauseous, woozy and dehydrated. It can have pernicious health effects on multiple organs. But there's another, less well-known, impact of extreme heat: It makes you age faster. Prolonged exposure to soaring temperatures can cause a deterioration in our cells and tissues and speed up biological aging, according to a new and growing body of research. Chronological age refers to how long a person has lived, but biological — or 'epigenetic' — age measures how well our tissues and cells function. The difference between the two explains why sometimes someone's age does not seem to match their health and vitality. An accelerated biological age is the 'canary in the coal mine' for future risk of earlier onset of diseases such as cancer, dementia and diabetes, and early death, said Jennifer Ailshire, professor of gerontology and sociology at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. As climate change forces people to endure increasingly severe and longer lasting heat waves, scientists say there is an urgency to better understand the ways heat is slowly and silently undermining human health at a cellular level. Our DNA is set at birth; it is the blueprint for how the body functions and cannot be changed. But the way DNA is expressed — the way this blueprint is carried out — can be affected by external factors that trigger chemical modifications that turn genes on or off like a light switch. External factors affecting these switches include behaviors, such as smoking and lack of exercise, as well as environmental factors, like heat. Heat stresses the body, making it work harder as it tries to cool down, which can damage cells. While a little bit of heat stress can be good for the body, helping increase resilience, prolonged exposure taxes the body over extended periods and can have long-term consequences. Research on animals has pointed to strong associations between heat and accelerated aging but, until recently, there were very few studies that looked at humans. Ailshire is one of the scientists trying to change that. She and another researcher, Eunyoung Choi, published the first population-scale research into this area in February. They analyzed blood samples taken from a group of more than 3,600 people across the United States aged 56 and above. They used tools called 'epigenetic clocks,' which capture the way DNA is modified and provide an estimate of biological age. They then linked this to daily climate data in participants' locations in the years before the blood samples were taken. Their results, published in February, found people who experienced at least 140 extreme heat days a year — when the heat index, a combination of temperature and humidity, was above 90 degrees Fahrenheit — aged up to 14 months faster than those in locations with less than 10 extreme heat days a year. This link between heat and biological aging remained even when taking into account individual factors such as exercise levels and income, although the study did not look at access to air conditioning or time spent outside. The strength of the association was significant, too. The results showed extreme heat had the same impact on aging as smoking or heavy alcohol use. Their findings are supported by other recent research. A 2023 study of more than 2,000 people in Germany found medium- and long-term exposure to heat was linked to accelerated biological aging. The impacts were particularly pronounced in women, who can be more vulnerable to heat as they tend to sweat less, meaning it's harder for them to cool down. People with diabetes or obesity were also more at risk, the study found. The effects can even start before birth. A 2024 study looked at accelerated biological aging in children in Kenya who were exposed to drought as fetuses. During pregnancy, their mothers endured heat, as well as dehydration and emotional distress. These factors can cause stress at a cellular level that needs to be repaired, which means less energy is available for other vital functions, potentially leading to accelerated aging, the study found. Heat stress can also reduce blood flow to the uterus and placenta. 'So we see an impact on growth that includes lower birth weights and an overall harder start to life — all of which can be reflected in faster biological aging,' said Bilinda Straight, a study author and a professor at the School of Environment, Geography, and Sustainability at Western Michigan University. Thiese findings do not mean that everyone living in hot places will experience accelerated aging, Ailshire said. Each person has their own risk factors and there are ways to adapt. Access to cooling and avoiding exercise in the hottest parts of the day are important. Better nutrition, more exercise (in the cool parts of the day) and medication can also help, she added. Scientists have found drugs including metformin, prescribed for diabetes, and weight-loss medication Ozempic could slow aging. If people can change or find ways to adapt to their heat exposure levels, it may be possible to slow or reverse the accelerated aging process, Ailshire said. 'Because that's not permanent damage; it's an indicator of the potential for permanent damage. It doesn't necessarily signify that this damage has been done.' The area of study is very new. 'We are just at the start of understanding this process, particularly in humans,' Rongbin Xu, a research fellow at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University in Australia. But as places warm up, and heat records continue to be smashed, scientists are going to have a lot more data about the myriad ways heat affects our bodies — and who is most vulnerable. 'If we can't do anything about rising temperatures, then at a minimum, we need to be increasing awareness and finding strategies,' Ailshire said. 'There has to be a way that we can get through this.'
CNN
5 days ago
- Health
- CNN
Extreme heat is making us age faster. Here's how
The soupy, smothering extreme heat that has scorched parts of the Northern Hemisphere this summer takes a hard toll on our bodies. It can make you feel nauseous, woozy and dehydrated. It can have pernicious health effects on multiple organs. But there's another, less well-known, impact of extreme heat: It makes you age faster. Prolonged exposure to soaring temperatures can cause a deterioration in our cells and tissues and speed up biological aging, according to a new and growing body of research. Chronological age refers to how long a person has lived, but biological — or 'epigenetic' — age measures how well our tissues and cells function. The difference between the two explains why sometimes someone's age does not seem to match their health and vitality. An accelerated biological age is the 'canary in the coal mine' for future risk of earlier onset of diseases such as cancer, dementia and diabetes, and early death, said Jennifer Ailshire, professor of gerontology and sociology at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. As climate change forces people to endure increasingly severe and longer lasting heat waves, scientists say there is an urgency to better understand the ways heat is slowly and silently undermining human health at a cellular level. Our DNA is set at birth; it is the blueprint for how the body functions and cannot be changed. But the way DNA is expressed — the way this blueprint is carried out — can be affected by external factors that trigger chemical modifications that turn genes on or off like a light switch. External factors affecting these switches include behaviors, such as smoking and lack of exercise, as well as environmental factors, like heat. Heat stresses the body, making it work harder as it tries to cool down, which can damage cells. While a little bit of heat stress can be good for the body, helping increase resilience, prolonged exposure taxes the body over extended periods and can have long-term consequences. Research on animals has pointed to strong associations between heat and accelerated aging but, until recently, there were very few studies that looked at humans. Ailshire is one of the scientists trying to change that. She and another researcher, Eunyoung Choi, published the first population-scale research into this area in February. They analyzed blood samples taken from a group of more than 3,600 people across the United States aged 56 and above. They used tools called 'epigenetic clocks,' which capture the way DNA is modified and provide an estimate of biological age. They then linked this to daily climate data in participants' locations in the years before the blood samples were taken. Their results, published in February, found people who experienced at least 140 extreme heat days a year — when the heat index, a combination of temperature and humidity, was above 90 degrees Fahrenheit — aged up to 14 months faster than those in locations with less than 10 extreme heat days a year. This link between heat and biological aging remained even when taking into account individual factors such as exercise levels and income, although the study did not look at access to air conditioning or time spent outside. The strength of the association was significant, too. The results showed extreme heat had the same impact on aging as smoking or heavy alcohol use. Their findings are supported by other recent research. A 2023 study of more than 2,000 people in Germany found medium- and long-term exposure to heat was linked to accelerated biological aging. The impacts were particularly pronounced in women, who can be more vulnerable to heat as they tend to sweat less, meaning it's harder for them to cool down. People with diabetes or obesity were also more at risk, the study found. The effects can even start before birth. A 2024 study looked at accelerated biological aging in children in Kenya who were exposed to drought as fetuses. During pregnancy, their mothers endured heat, as well as dehydration and emotional distress. These factors can cause stress at a cellular level that needs to be repaired, which means less energy is available for other vital functions, potentially leading to accelerated aging, the study found. Heat stress can also reduce blood flow to the uterus and placenta. 'So we see an impact on growth that includes lower birth weights and an overall harder start to life — all of which can be reflected in faster biological aging,' said Bilinda Straight, a study author and a professor at the School of Environment, Geography, and Sustainability at Western Michigan University. Thiese findings do not mean that everyone living in hot places will experience accelerated aging, Ailshire said. Each person has their own risk factors and there are ways to adapt. Access to cooling and avoiding exercise in the hottest parts of the day are important. Better nutrition, more exercise (in the cool parts of the day) and medication can also help, she added. Scientists have found drugs including metformin, prescribed for diabetes, and weight-loss medication Ozempic could slow aging. If people can change or find ways to adapt to their heat exposure levels, it may be possible to slow or reverse the accelerated aging process, Ailshire said. 'Because that's not permanent damage; it's an indicator of the potential for permanent damage. It doesn't necessarily signify that this damage has been done.' The area of study is very new. 'We are just at the start of understanding this process, particularly in humans,' Rongbin Xu, a research fellow at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University in Australia. But as places warm up, and heat records continue to be smashed, scientists are going to have a lot more data about the myriad ways heat affects our bodies — and who is most vulnerable. 'If we can't do anything about rising temperatures, then at a minimum, we need to be increasing awareness and finding strategies,' Ailshire said. 'There has to be a way that we can get through this.'
CNN
09-07-2025
- Health
- CNN
Extreme heat is a killer. A recent heat wave shows how much more deadly its becoming as humans warm the world
Extreme temperatures Climate changeFacebookTweetLink Follow Extreme heat is a killer and its impact is becoming far, far deadlier as the human-caused climate crisis supercharges temperatures, according to a new study, which estimates global warming tripled the number of deaths in the recent European heat wave. The outcome was deadly. Thousands of people are estimated to have lost their lives, according to a rapid analysis study published Wednesday. A team of researchers, led by Imperial College London, looked at 10 days of extreme heat between June 23 and July 2 across 12 European cities, including London, Paris, Athens, Madrid and Rome. They used historical weather data to calculate how intense the heat would have been if humans had not burned fossil fuels and warmed the world by 1.3 degrees Celsius. They found climate change made Europe's heat wave 1 to 4 degrees Celsius (1.8 to 7.2 Fahrenheit) hotter. The scientists then used research on the relationship between heat and daily deaths to estimate how many people lost their lives. They found approximately 2,300 people died during ten days of heat across the 12 cities, around 1,500 more than would have died in a world without climate change. In other words, global heating was responsible for 65% of the total death toll. 'The results show how relatively small increases in the hottest temperatures can trigger huge surges in death,' the study authors wrote. Heat has a particularly pernicious impact on people with underlying health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes and respiratory problems. People over 65 years old were most affected, accounting for 88% of the excess deaths, according to the analysis. But heat can be deadly for anyone. Nearly 200 of the estimated deaths across the 12 cities were among those aged 20 to 65. Climate change was responsible for the vast majority of heat deaths in some cities. In Madrid, it accounted for about 90% of estimated heat wave deaths, the analysis found. The study's focus on 12 cities makes it just a snapshot of the true heat wave death toll across the continent, which researchers estimate could be up to tens of thousands of people. 'Heatwaves don't leave a trail of destruction like wildfires or storms,' said Ben Clarke, a study author and a researcher at Imperial College London. 'Their impacts are mostly invisible but quietly devastating — a change of just 2 or 3 degrees Celsius can mean the difference between life and death for thousands of people.' The world must stop burning fossil fuels to stop heat waves becoming hotter and deadlier and cities need to urgently adapt, said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London. 'Shifting to renewable energy, building cities that can withstand extreme heat, and protecting the poorest and most vulnerable is absolutely essential,' she said. Akshay Deoras, a research scientist at the University of Reading who was not involved in the analysis, said 'robust techniques used in this study leave no doubt that climate change is already a deadly force in Europe.' Richard Allan, a professor of climate science at the University of Reading who was also not involved in the report, said the study added to huge amounts of evidence that climate change is making heat waves more intense, 'meaning that moderate heat becomes dangerous and record heat becomes unprecedented.' It's not just heat that's being supercharged in out hotter world, Allan added. 'As one part of the globe bakes and burns, another region can suffer intense rainfall and catastrophic flooding.'
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New study reveals disturbing effects of wildfire smoke on humans: 'Drives home how far-reaching the impacts are'
A new study detailed by The Associated Press revealed that wildfire smoke caused about 15,000 premature deaths in the U.S. over 15 years, with the greatest impact on communities already facing systemic disadvantages. Researchers found that short-term exposure to fine particulate matter from wildfire smoke — the same type that tinted skies orange in major U.S. cities last year — contributed to roughly 15,000 excess deaths from 2006 to 2020. The study, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, emphasized that these totals may be underestimated, as wildfires are growing more frequent and intense due to rising global temperatures. "These numbers are really significant," professor Jacob Bendix of Syracuse University said, per The Guardian. "This study drives home how far-reaching the impacts are." While various states experienced these health burdens, the worst outcomes occurred in wildfire-prone areas with lower-income communities that have limited access to clean indoor air, health care, or evacuation resources. Researchers from the Yale School of Public Health found that chronic smoke exposure was linked to long-term health declines and rising mortality rates. The fine particles from wildfires can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, with effects that last long after fires are extinguished. These issues point to a bigger crisis in the management of air quality. More forests are drying out each year, and fire seasons are stretching longer, meaning more people are exposed to hazardous air for longer periods. This also applies to areas not typically affected by wildfires. Efforts to reduce the risks of wildfire smoke include forest management legislation, investment in early fire detection, funding for clean air shelters, and other steps to reduce greenhouse gases. On a personal level, individuals can install air purifiers, apply seals to windows, and advocate for better emergency planning in their area. Raising awareness about the impact of wildfire smoke and other critical issues is also key to mitigating future problems. Do you worry about air pollution in and around your home? Yes — always Yes — often Yes — sometimes No — never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
