Heat waves affect asthmatics

NEW YORK (HealthDay News)—Heat waves and heat domes are particularly dangerous for children with asthma, a new study finds.

Daytime heat waves are associated with a 19% increase in the odds of a child with asthma ending up in the hospital, researchers found.

In addition, heat waves that last for days double a child’s risk of being hospitalized due to asthma.

“We found that both daily high heat events and extreme temperatures lasting multiple days increased the risk of asthma-related hospital visits,” said researcher Morgan Ye, a research data analyst at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine.

In the study, the team analyzed data from UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland between 2017 and 2020, using climate data to determine the timing of heat waves in each ZIP code in the hospital’s service area.

“We continue to see an increase in global temperatures due to human-caused climate change, and we can expect an increase in health-related problems as we see longer, more frequent and more severe heat waves,” Ye said in a UCSF news release.

Hot, humid weather is a common asthma trigger, according to the American Lung Association. This weather also increases smog levels.

Previous studies have linked extreme heat to asthma, but it’s not clear whether heat waves can lead to asthma attacks so severe that children will need to be hospitalized, the researchers said.

This study is also unique because it also studied the effects of persistent heat waves, they added.

“Our research suggests that higher temperatures and increased duration of these hot days are associated with increased risk of hospital visits due to asthma,” Ye said. “Children and families with lower adaptive capacity will experience the brunt of the burden.”

The researchers noted that the San Francisco Bay Area typically does not reach the extreme temperatures experienced in other parts of the country, suggesting that even milder heat waves might harm children’s health. “These results can be used to inform targeted actions and resources for vulnerable children and alleviate health-related stress during heat waves,” the researchers concluded.