Senior Physician Speaker Series
Curated and hosted by Sam Yared, MD
Topic: Climate Change and Health
Guest Speaker: Wayne Tuckson, MD & Natasha DeJarnett, PhD, MPH, BCES
At the August meeting of the Senior Physicians Committee, Dr. Sam Yared, chair, introduced Wayne Tuckson, MD, Host of Kentucky Health on KET, and Natasha DeJarnett, PhD, MPH, BCES, Assistant Professor with the University of Louisville Department of Medicine.
When physicians think about climate change, melting glaciers and rising sea levels may come to mind. But for patients, climate change often presents much closer to home, in the form of worsening asthma, heat-related illness, pregnancy complications, cardiovascular disease or declining mental health. According to the speakers, these aren’ t distant possibilities. They are clinical realities already unfolding in communities across Kentucky and the nation.
The speakers encouraged physicians to view climate change not simply as an environmental issue, but as a public health challenge that increasingly intersects with every area of medicine. They also emphasized that decades of research have established the connection between climate change and human health, while also demonstrating how environmental hazards disproportionately affect vulnerable populations and widen existing health disparities.
Although the scope of the issue can seem daunting, they urged physicians to look beyond statistics and recognize the value of personal experience. Climate change is a global issue, they explained, but its effects are felt locally, in neighborhoods, clinics and families. Physicians are uniquely positioned to witness these impacts firsthand through the patients they treat every day.
This is the reality for healthcare professionals: environmental exposures are closely connected to the social determinants of health. Communities facing longstanding environmental burdens also experience higher rates of chronic diseases, including asthma, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, adverse pregnancy outcomes and shortened life expectancy.
Climate change further compounds those challenges by intensifying existing inequities. Older adults, children, pregnant women, individuals with chronic medical conditions, outdoor workers and communities with limited resources are among those most vulnerable to extreme heat, worsening air quality, flooding and other climate-related events. These environmental changes contribute to increased illness while also disrupting access to healthcare, medications, transportation and other essential services.
24 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE