Europe Asia News

According to a study, repeated exposure to heat waves accelerates aging in humans. Researchers said that its effect is largely comparable to the damage caused to health by smoking, alcohol consumption, poor diet, or limited exercise.

According to one expert, this research represents a “paradigm shift” in understanding the scope and severity of heat’s impact on our health.

It was already known that heat waves caused short-term increases in premature deaths. For example, in the UK, about 600 premature deaths in June were linked to a heat wave. But the new analysis is one of the first to assess the long-term effect.

Researchers tracked 25,000 people in Taiwan for 15 years and compared their exposure to heat waves with their biological age, a measure of overall health. For example, they found that people who experienced four more days of heat waves over a two-year period had a biological age about nine days older. Outdoor physical laborers were particularly affected, with their biological age increasing by 33 days.

Although the increase in biological age may seem small, scientists emphasized that this applies only to a two-year period. They are now studying the impact of heat waves on aging throughout a person’s lifetime.

Researchers also said that since everyone suffers during heat waves and increases in biological age are a strong indicator of death risk, the total impact on global populations will be significant.