Weird weather raises health risks

HYDRATION A MUST:Inadequate intake of water in high-temperature conditions can increase blood viscosity, leading to heightened risk of stroke, a researcher said

By Lin Hui-ching and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Major temperature fluctuations amid unseasonably hot or cold summers and winters are linked to heightened risks of cerebrovascular diseases, National Taiwan University (NTU) College of Public Health researchers said.

The study, published in the latest issue of the Taiwan Journal of Public Health, said that cerebrovascular accidents, or strokes, are not exclusively correlated to sudden drops in temperature, but to increases also, making unseasonably warm winters — such as the one Taiwan is currently experiencing — a period of elevated stroke risk.

The researchers analyzed the medical records of 10,000 cerebrovascular disease patients aged over 51 from the National Health Insurance Administration’s database, cross-referencing the data against which of seven zones the patients lived in from 2003 to 2010.

In many regions, high “relative extreme temperatures” — referring to regional daily temperature variances that were significantly higher than historically derived normal values — exacerbated stroke risk, lead researcher Kate Hsiao (尹居浩), an attending physician in the Neurology Division of Cheng Hsin General Hospital, said that hot temperatures strain the heart by accelerating the metabolism, and therefore temperature fluctuations during winter are likely to induce strokes in people with compromised vascular health.