Rising temperatures driven by climate change could lead to increased health risks for people with diabetes, according to experts including Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Barrak Alahmad.
Alahmad, instructor in the Department of Environmental Health, was among the experts quoted in a Feb. 4 Yale Climate Connections article about extreme heat’s toll on people living with diabetes. The disease has grown more prevalent in recent decades, particularly in low-and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization. Roughly 830 million people around the world live with the disease.
Recent studies suggest that these individuals face greater risk of health complications and hospitalization during periods of extreme heat. Alahmad and colleagues, for example, looked at more than 11,000 cases of unplanned diabetes hospitalizations from 2017 to 2019 in Kuwait, where there is harsh summer heat as well as intense dust storms. They found a link between hot days and an excess of 282 diabetic admissions, with dust also playing a role.
“High temperatures lead to increased heat stress, which worsens glucose control and raises the risk of complications such as foot ulcers and fluctuations in blood sugar levels,” Alahmad told Yale Climate Connections. “Fine dust particles also cause vascular damage and increase inflammation, further complicating the condition of people with diabetes.”
Alahmad recommended that, when extreme heat or dust events are forecast, warning systems be put in place to alert vulnerable patients, including those with diabetes. He also recommended expanding the use of telemedicine during these weather events.
Read the Yale Climate Connections article: Climate change is worsening diabetes worldwide
Read the study led by Barrak Alahmad: Combined impact of heat and dust on diabetes hospitalization in Kuwait
