Wildfires cause heart failure, strokes - especially among seniors
With wildfire seasons in North America increasing in intensity and duration, researchers are focusing their attention on the health impacts from smoke exposure. A new study in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association (AHA)/American Stroke Association, finds that smoke from wildfires may send people – particularly seniors – to hospital emergency rooms (ERs) with heart and stroke-related complaints.
Researchers reviewed more than one million ER visits in northern and central California during intense wildfires in the summer of 2015. They examined the relative risk of daily heart-, brain- and blood vessel-related ER visits on light, medium and dense smoke days relative to days without wildfire smoke exposure. They found that smoke exposure was associated with increased rates of ER visits, not just for breathing trouble, but also ischemic heart disease, irregular heart rhythm, heart failure, pulmonary embolism and stroke. The risk was greatest for adults age 65 and older.