Climate change is undermining the mental and physical health of global populations, but the question of how it is affecting substance-use behaviors has not been systematically examined. In this narrative synthesis, we find that climate change could increase harmful substance use worldwide through at least five pathways: psychosocial stress arising from the destabilization of social, environmental, economic, and geopolitical support systems; increased rates of mental disorders; increased physical-health burden; incremental harmful changes to established behavior patterns; and worry about the dangers of unchecked climate change. These pathways could operate independently, additively, interactively, and cumulatively to increase substance-use vulnerability. Young people face disproportionate risks because of their high vulnerability to mental-health problems and substance-use disorders and greater number of life years ahead in which to be exposed to current and worsening climate change. We suggest that systems thinking and developmental life-course approaches provide practical frameworks for conceptualizing this relationship. Further conceptual, methodological, and empirical work is urgently needed to evaluate the nature and scope of this burden so that effective adaptive and preventive action can be taken.

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Climate Change and Substance-Use Behaviors: A Risk-Pathways Framework

Exposure to global warming can be dangerous for health and can lead to an increase in the prevalence of neurological diseases worldwide. Such an effect is more evident in populations that are less prepared to cope with enhanced environmental temperatures. In this work, we extend our previous research on the link between climate change and Parkinson’s disease (PD) to also include Alzheimer’s Disease and other Dementias (AD/D) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/Motor Neuron Diseases (ALS/MND). One hundred and eighty-four world countries were clustered into four groups according to their climate indices (warming and annual average temperature). Variations between 1990 and 2016 in the diseases’ indices (prevalence, deaths, and disability-adjusted life years) and climate indices for the four clusters were analyzed. Unlike our previous work on PD, we did not find any significant correlation between warming and epidemiological indices for AD/D and ALS/MND patients. A significantly lower increment in prevalence in countries with higher temperatures was found for ALS/MND patients. It can be argued that the discordant findings between AD/D or ALS/MND and PD might be related to the different features of the neuronal types involved and the pathophysiology of thermoregulation. The neurons of AD/D and ALS/MND patients are less vulnerable to heat-related degeneration effects than PD patients. PD patients’ substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc), which are constitutively frailer due to their morphology and function, fall down under an overwhelming oxidative stress caused by climate warming.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13429/pdf?version=1666072139

Effects of Global Warming on Patients with Dementia, Motor Neuron or Parkinson’s Diseases: A Comparison among Cortical and Subcortical Disorders

Abstract Climate change has important implications on human health, affecting almost every system in the body. Multiple studies have raised the possibility of climate change impacting eye health. In this review, we aimed to summarize current literature on the impact of air pollution and climate change on eye health. We performed a search in four different databases, including Medline, Scopus, Cochrane, and Web of Sciences databases. The search strategy combined terms regarding eye health and environmental/climate changes. The outcome of interest included all eye conditions. The search yielded 2,051 unique articles. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 61 articles were included in this systematic review with data covering 2,620,030 participants. Most studies originated from China, India, South Korea, and USA. Climate change adversely affected different eye conditions, with ocular surface diseases (e.g., conjunctivitis and dry eye) being most affected. Moreover, higher particulate matter (PM) was the most widely assessed pollutant and was adversely associated with the majority of eye conditions, increasing the burden on patients and healthcare providers. We found a low frequency of publications related to the delivery of eye care and its impact on climate change in countries with high air pollution and climate change burden.

The impact of air pollution and climate change on eye health: a global review

Vaccinations have been pivotal in lowering the global disease burden of vaccine-preventable encephalitides, including Japanese encephalitis, tick-borne encephalitis, measles encephalitis, and rabies encephalitis, among others.Populations vulnerable to vaccine-preventable infections that may lead to encephalitis include those living in endemic and rural areas, military members, migrants, refugees, international travelers, younger and older persons, pregnant women, the immunocompromised, outdoor, healthcare and laboratory workers, and the homeless. There is scope for improving the availability and distribution of vaccinations, vaccine equity, surveillance of vaccine-preventable encephalitides, and public education and information.Addressing these gaps in vaccination strategies will allow for improved vaccination coverage and lead to better health outcomes for those most at risk for vaccine-preventable encephalitis. 

Addressing vaccine-preventable encephalitis in vulnerable populations

Mounting Evidence on the Effects of Climate Change on Neurologic Disorders

Background Climate change, including global warming, will cause poorer global health and rising numbers of environmental refugees. As neurological disorders account for a major share of morbidity and mortality worldwide, global warming is also destined to alter neurological practice; however, to what extent and by which mechanisms is unknown. We aimed to collect information about the effects of ambient temperatures and human migration on the epidemiology and clinical manifestations of neurological disorders. Methods We searched PubMed and Scopus from 01/2000 to 12/2020 for human studies addressing the influence of ambient temperatures and human migration on Alzheimer's and non-Alzheimer's dementia, epilepsy, headache/migraine, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, stroke, and tick-borne encephalitis (a model disease for neuroinfections). The protocol was pre-registered with PROSPERO (2020 CRD42020147543). Results Ninety-three studies met inclusion criteria, 84 of which reported on ambient temperatures and nine on migration. Overall, most temperature studies suggested a relationship between increasing temperatures and higher mortality and/or morbidity, whereas results were more ambiguous for migration studies. However, we were unable to identify a single adequately designed study addressing how global warming and human migration will change neurological practice. Still, extracted data indicated multiple ways by which these aspects might alter neurological morbidity and mortality soon. Conclusion Significant heterogeneity exists across studies with respect to methodology, outcome measures, confounders and study design, including lack of data from low-income countries, but the evidence so far suggests that climate change will affect the practice of all major neurological disorders in the near future. Adequately designed studies to address this issue are urgently needed, requiring concerted efforts from the entire neurological community.

Teodoro De Vecchi

Papers

Global warming and neurological practice: systematic review