Major temperature fluctuations amid unseasonably hot or cold summers and winters are linked to heightened risks of cerebrovascular diseases, National Taiwan University (NTU) College of Public Health researchers said.
The study, published in the latest issue of the Taiwan Journal of Public Health, said that cerebrovascular accidents, or strokes, are not exclusively correlated to sudden drops in temperature, but to increases also, making unseasonably warm winters — such as the one Taiwan is currently experiencing — a period of elevated stroke risk.
The researchers analyzed the medical records of 10,000 cerebrovascular disease patients aged over 51 from the National Health Insurance Administration’s database, cross-referencing the data against which of seven zones the patients lived in from 2003 to 2010.
In many regions, high “relative extreme temperatures” — referring to regional daily temperature variances that were significantly higher than historically derived normal values — exacerbated stroke risk, lead researcher Kate Hsiao (蕭朱杏) said.
For example, in summers of high relative temperature extremes, the number of strokes reported in the Central, Kaohsiung-Pingtung, Yilan and Hualien-Taitung zones increased by 6, 17, 17 and 54 percent respectively, said Hsiao, who is an NTU public health professor.
In winters when relative extremes are high, incidences of strokes in the Kaohsiung-Pingtung, Yilan and Hualien-Taitung zones increased by 9, 9 and 43 percent respectively, she said.
“Some medical literature suggests that inadequate intake of water in high temperature conditions can increase blood viscosity; for elderly people, rapid temperature fluctuations may lead to heightened risks of cerebrovascular accidents, because their ability to adapt to temperature changes tends to be low,” she said.
That regions such as Kaohsiung-Pingtung and Hualien-Taitung have significantly higher temperature-related stroke risk than other zones is speculated to be the result of the lower socioeconomic status of people living there, with those people being less likely to have an adequate knowledge of preventive medicine, Hsiao said.
Taipei Medical University Hospital’s Kao Wei-fong (高偉峰) said that according to experience, both high and low temperature extremes lead to an influx of stroke victims.
Kao, who heads the hospital’s Department of Emergency and Critical Care, said temperatures more than 25°C and below 15°C are particularly troublesome.
Yi Gi-hou (尹居浩), an attending physician in the Neurology Division of Cheng Hsin General Hospital, said that hot temperatures strain the heart by accelerating the metabolism, and therefore temperature fluctuations during winter are likely to induce strokes in people with compromised vascular health.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS