Climate Change – ABC CARDIOL

ABCIC

Editorial

Climate Change and Cardiovascular Imaging: Challenges and Opportunities

Eduardo Galvão Freire et al. José Arimateia Batista Araújo-Filho Cesar Higa Nomura

Climate change directly and indirectly affects human health. The increasing incidence and intensity of extreme weather events are directly associated with adverse health outcomes, including cardiovascular events, as well as increased demand and expenditure on health systems globally. Vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and people with pre-existing cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, face increased risks due to temperature variations and poor air quality. Moreover, high temperatures also limit outdoor exercise, with potential long-term detrimental effects on cardiovascular health. In a country like Brazil, where economic disparities often expose low-income populations to higher levels of pollution and less access to health care, the impacts of climate change on cardiovascular health are a matter of growing concern among medical and scientific communities.

On the other hand, the healthcare sector is responsible for almost 5% of the planet’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with a significant contribution coming from general imaging and cardiovascular diagnostic tests. We thus face a double challenge: to improve cardiovascular health outcomes for the population while reducing the environmental footprint of our tests. Although advances in cardiovascular imaging technologies have undoubtedly improved our diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes, these benefits have come at considerable financial and environmental costs.

[…]

Read Full Article

IJCS

Original Article

The Influence of Seasonal Temperature Variation on Blood Pressure Behavior

Juliana Ribas Escosteguy et al. Murilo Beskow Cezar Roberto Van Der Sand

Abstract

Background:

Hypertension in Brazil affects 32.5% of the population, accounting for 50% of deaths due to cardiovascular disease. The correct measurement and interpretation of blood pressure are essential for attaining an adequate disease diagnosis and management.

Objective:

To verify the correlation between the seasonal temperature variation during 2016 and blood pressure variation in 902 patients of a private Cardiology Service in the city of Porto Alegre/RS.

Method:

A total of 902 ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) results were analyzed in 2016. Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient was used to correlate blood pressure levels with the values of temperature and relative air humidity; the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests were adopted for significance values, assuming an alpha error < 0.05 and a 95% confidence interval. The Analysis of Variance compared the 902 ABPM results with the continuous variables obtained for this study.

Results:

No statistically significant differences were found when the blood pressure values obtained from the 902 ABPM results were correlated with the minimum, mean and maximum values of temperature and relative air humidity, and also when each of the continuous variables obtained for this study were compared with these same pressure measurements.

Conclusion:

Despite the great variation in temperature and relative air humidity throughout the year in the region, there was no significant influence on the systemic arterial pressure in the study population. New comparative studies in the same population with different thermal variations may provide further clarification on this subject.