Hanyang: Pr Hyeong-Joon Yi is the authors of the paper titled “Effect of Seasonal and
Monthly Variation in Weather and Air Pollution Factors on Stroke
Incidence in Seoul, Korea,” which provided a deeper insight into
seasonal and monthly variations in weather and air pollution in Seoul as
one of the factor of stroke incidence. Through this paper, Yi hoped to
enhance the understanding of the relationships between stroke and
weather and air pollutants. In South Korea, stroke is the second most common cause of death, and
is the leading cause of disability. Stroke is also known as
cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or brain attack, and occurs when poor
blood flow to the brain results in cell death. There are two types of
strokes, which are cause by the lack of blood flow and bleeding. The
symptoms of strokes include disability on one side of the body, problems
understanding or speaking. The main risk factor for stroke is high
blood pressure, and occurs most commonly in adults aged 60 and over.
Each year, about 105,000 Koreans suffer from a stroke, but only a
few studies have related Korea’s seasonal and monthly variation in
strokes. Moreover, studies showing relationships between seasonal and
monthly weather variation and strokes have been based on data from other
parts of the world, which addressed large regions with varying climate.
One of the goals of this paper was to elaborate on the relationships
between seasonal weather variances with strokes based on data of smaller
and specific regions in Korea. This paper used data of registered
stroke events in the residents of selected areas of Seongdong district,
Seoul from the time intervals between January 1, 2004 and December 31,
2013. Using this data, the authors of this paper including Yi also found
relationships between stroke incidence and air pollution parameters,
such as fine dust.
The results indicated that the incidence of stroke in the month of
September was significantly higher compared to January. Also the
seasonal ischemic stroke, which is strokes caused by hemorrhaging of the
blood vessels in the brain, was more common in summer than in winter.
The nitrogen dioxide levels showed a strong positive correlation with
intracerebral hemorrhage incidences among the older age groups,
indicating that air pollution such as fine dust in Seoul was one of the
strong factors of strokes. “Through this paper, we provided a deeper
insight into the relationship between seasonal and monthly variation and
incidence of stroke, through consideration of the effects of
meteorologic and air pollution in Seongdong district, Seoul,” Yi said.
“We expect that this finding can enhance our understanding of the
relationships between strokes and weather and air pollutants.”
