Cold Kills More Americans Every Year, Study Finds

Even as the weather warms, the cold continues to be a major threat to Americans. A new study this month shows that cold-related deaths have increased dramatically in the US over the past two decades.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School conducted the study, which aimed to better estimate the number of people who die from cold in the U.S. They found that the number of people who die from cold has more than doubled since the late 1990s, with deaths increasing significantly. in recent years. The main causes of death are likely to be exacerbated by climate change, homelessness, and isolation, the researchers say.

Too hot at either end of the thermometer can be dangerous. Although recent studies have shown that heat-related deaths have increased over the past few decades, winter is the deadliest. 2021 study found that the cold caused about three-quarters of the world’s heat-related deaths in 2019, for example (there were about 1.7 million deaths that year).

Harvard researchers note that cold deaths in the US have been little studied, and little is known about how the problem has changed over time. To address this information gap, they analyzed data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, particularly for deaths where exposure to cold was listed as a major or contributory cause.

Between 1999 and 2022, there were more than 40,000 cold-related deaths in the US, the researchers found. After adjusting for age, they found that the death rate rose from 0.44 deaths from the flu per 100,000 people in 1999 to 0.92 such deaths per 100,000 people in 2022. Much of this jump was due to a large increase in annual deaths between 2017 and 2017. and 2022. The group’s results were printed this month in the magazine JAMA.

“There has been a fair amount of focus on heat-related deaths due to global warming,” lead author Rishi Wadhera, a cardiologist and health researcher at Harvard, told Gizmodo in an email. “However, our research findings are a sobering reminder that exposure to cold remains a major public health problem.”

Although their research was not designed to determine the exact reasons for this increase, Wadhera and his colleagues highlight some possible causes.

Climate change is known to increase the risk of heatstroke and heatstroke very cold weatherFor example. But it’s also possible that many Americans today are at greater risk of being left out in the cold than in the past, especially people who lead sedentary lifestyles, Wadhera says.

“For example, we know that the number of uninsured people in the US has increased in the last few years – this is the people who are exposed to the weather outside, including the cold,” he said.

Homelessness in the US has increased since 2016 (the early years of the covid-19 pandemic were difficult. interestingthanks in part to generous grant programs). In 2023, homelessness will end winner figures recorded in 2007, when modern data collection began, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (their report for this year is not yet out). Drug use and isolation can also increase people’s vulnerability to risk, including heatstroke.

The results in this group show who is at the highest risk of dying from the cold. In this region, the death rate was highest in the Midwest, where winters can be very harsh, for example. The highest rates of death among racial and ethnic groups were observed among American Indians and blacks, respectively, and the highest rates of death by age were observed in people over 75 years of age.

The authors say more research needs to be done to explain why flu deaths are on the rise. At the same time, there are already measures that policymakers can and should do to prevent the catastrophic loss of life, such as ensuring that vulnerable people live in homes with indoor heating or increasing access to warmer climates.

“Our findings should raise awareness that injury and death due to cold weather is possible – especially for older people who are in poor health, vulnerable people who are exposed to outdoor weather, and people with low incomes who cannot afford enough heat in the house,” said Wadhera.