Severe spikes in temperature have been found to be increasing the risk of heart attack among people. This risk is especially greater in people who have diabetes or hyperlipidemia.

‘People with diabetes or high cholesterol levels were particularly at risk of heat-induced heart attack. The researchers suspect that this is partly a result of global warming, but it is also a consequence of an increase in risk factors, which have made people more susceptible to heat.
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Together with colleagues from Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Augsburg University Hospital and Nördlingen Hospital, he examined data from the Myocardial Infarction Register Augsburg. The study looked at more than 27,000 heart attack patients between 1987 and 2014. The average age of the patients studied was around 63, 73% were men and about 13,000 ended in the death of the patient. 




The individual heart attacks were compared against meteorological data on the day of the attack and adjusted for a range of additional factors, such as the day of the week and socioeconomic status. The key finding from the study, explains Chen was that "Over a period of 28 years, we found that there has been an increase in heat-induced heart attack risk in recent years."
In order to demonstrate this, the researchers compared data from 1987 to 2000 with data from 2001 to 2014. "Our analysis showed that, over the last few years, the risk of heat-induced heart attack with increasing average daily temperature has risen compared to the previous investigation period," explains Chen.
Individuals with diabetes or hyperlipidemia were particularly at risk over the latter period. The researchers suspect that this is partly a result of global warming, but that it is also a consequence of an increase in risk factors such as diabetes and hyperlipidemia, which have made the population more susceptible to heat.
Is climate change a heart attack risk?
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In addition, the researchers are also planning to corroborate their findings by carrying out additional, multicenter studies.
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