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Extreme temperatures increase the risk of premature death
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Extreme temperature changes in winter and summer increase the risk of premature death in people with cardiovascular disease.
This is the conclusion reached by Australian scientists. Their article can be found in the pages of the American Heart Association journal “Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes”.
Brisbane researchers have conducted the first study of this kind, the aim of which is to establish a link between average daily temperature and human life expectancy.
To identify this pattern, experts compared actual premature deaths and people's life expectancy.
The researchers note that their discovery may provide important information about how the human body reacts to temperature changes and whether this is associated with weight gain.
As previously discovered, temperature fluctuations can affect blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and change blood viscosity.
"The extent to which obesity is increasing in the modern world and all the problems that come with it, including diabetes and heart disease, mean that human sensitivity to temperature changes will only increase," said Dr Kunrui Huang from the School of Public Health and the University of Queensland's Centre for Health and Biomedical Innovation.
The scientists analysed temperature data from 1996 to 2004 in Brisbane and compared it with information on cardiovascular disease-related deaths over the same period.
The average temperature in Brisbane in summer is 20.5 degrees Celsius. The summer period is characterized by humid and hot weather, the maximum in summer is 29.2 degrees (1% of days per year).
Winter here is characterized by dry and mild weather conditions, during this period the minimum temperature is 11.7 degrees (1% of days per year).
According to scientists' calculations, about a million people lost about 72 years of life during the specified period. The reason for this was temperature fluctuations, which provoked a sharp deterioration in health and subsequent death.
Experts also note that the longer the extreme heat lasted, the greater the risk of premature death.
According to experts, this is primarily due to the heavy load on the heart, as well as the workload of ambulance crews on such days. At the same time, people with such diseases tolerate low temperatures much easier, because to avoid trouble in cold weather, you need to quickly warm up in a warm room.
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