Extreme temperatures may increase risk for low birth weight at term, study suggests

NIH: Extreme hot or cold temperatures during pregnancy may increase the risk that infants born at term will be of low birth weight, according to a study of U.S. women by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The study was published in Environmental Research. The authors found that exposure to atypically cold temperature during the entire pregnancy, or just during the second trimester and third trimester, increased the risk for low birth weight. Exposure to atypically hot temperatures during the whole pregnancy, or during the third trimester, also increased this risk. The odds for low term birth weight were highest when the whole pregnancy was exposed to extreme temperatures.

Hypothermia: A Cold Weather Hazard

NIH: With shorter days and dropping temperatures, it is important to keep in mind that older adults are particularly vulnerable to the health risks that can come with cold weather. Hypothermia—a dangerous drop in core body temperature—can occur when it is too cold outside or the body is unable to produce the heat it needs to function. Older adults and those with chronic medical conditions are especially susceptible to hypothermia, even after relatively short exposure to cold weather or a small drop in body temperature.  The National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has some tips to avoid some of the dangers.

Study Links Extreme Heat to Increased Hay Fever in U.S. Adults

Maryland: Hay fever, or seasonal allergic rhinitis, affects 17.6 million adults in the United States and results in $11.2 billion in related medical expenses. A new multi-institutional study led by researchers from the University of Maryland's School of Public Health and College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences shows that exposure to more frequent “extreme heat events” increases the prevalence of hay fever among US adults.
“It is well established that extreme heat events are on the rise, and this trend is projected to continue in response to changing climate,” explained Amir Sapkota,PhD, associate professor in the School of Public Health’s Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health and senior author of the study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in Practice. “Our study is the first to provide evidence of how such increases in extreme heat events contribute to allergic diseases such as hay fever at a national level.”

Cold weather is a bigger killer than extreme heat – here’s why

TheConversation: Most people are acutely aware of the toll the heat can take on human life, particularly since the extreme heat of Black Saturday in 2009 and the European heatwave of 2003. So it may come as a surprise that more Australians die from the cold than the heat. A new study published in The Lancet shows 6.5% of deaths in this country are attributed to cold weather, compared with 0.5% from hot weather. Most deaths will be from cardiovascular and respiratory disease, as it’s the heart and lungs that struggle when we are outside our comfort zone.