news
Deadly brain freeze
The colder it gets, the greater
the risk of an intracerebral
hemorrhage, study finds.
C
omfort’s not the only reason to
rug up when the temperature
plummets: cold weather has been
found to increase the risk of stroke.
Cold ambient temperature leads to a
heightened risk of the most lethal form
of stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage
(ICH), George Institute for Global Health
researchers have said.
Their study, published in the journal
PLOS One, involved 1997 patients globally
between 2008 and 2012 and found almost
80 per cent of strokes occurred when the
temperature dipped below 20 degrees.
Using 20 as their optimal reference
temperature, they found the odds of
experiencing ICH were 1.37 times higher at
10 degrees, 1.92 times higher at 0, 3.13 times
higher at -10 and 5.76 times higher at -20.
They also discovered ICH was more likely
to occur in the first two to three hours of
exposure to cold temperatures.
The study’s chief author, PhD student
Danni Zheng from the George Institute’s
Australian division, said the study used
hourly temperatures, while previous research
used monthly or daily temperatures.
About 70 per cent of the patients had a
known history of high blood pressure.
Previous studies had hypothesised
that cold temperatures might trigger ICH
through the narrowing of blood vessels
and elevations in blood pressure.
“ICH is a devastating disease with high
mortality and morbidity rates,” Zheng said.
“In 2010 alone, there were 5.3 million new
cases of ICH and over 3 million deaths
from ICH worldwide.”
The researchers said: “The risk of ICH
in high-risk subjects might be reduced
by more stringent monitoring and
management of blood pressure levels
during cold season.”
Other actions could include
“environmental heating interventions,
triggered by forecasts of low temperature”.
The Stroke Foundation reports that
there are about 50,000 new and recurrent
strokes each year in Australia, with ICH
accounting for about 7500 of them. ■
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