February 3, 2025 Extreme Heat and Hospitalization Among Older Persons With Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2829472?guestAccessKey=0baede8e-7a72-446d-b9aa-62b98cfef55a&utm_term=020325&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_medium=referral&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9R89uUEDIhhAyKakA8J3dQPMDAHnSSB9jEPkA8bs-U636nNHWldZ9bzpIet22w-UcU-5jYY1P6pbuMVirMVkn4GbTHJw&_hsmi=345537901&utm_content=tfl&utm_source=for_the_media one big number 5,360 For every single day of extreme heat, that’s the number of additional hospitalizations that could occur for people with Alzheimer’s or related dementias nationwide, according to a study in JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers analyzed Medicare claims from 2000 to 2018 with county-level climate data. They also found that Asian, Black, and Hispanic dementia patients had higher odds than white patients of being hospitalized due to four days of continuous extreme heat. “Climate change and population aging are progressing concurrently,” different researchers write in an accompanying opinion essay in the same journal. Older adults are especially vulnerable when it comes to climate hazards, so clinicians, health systems, and policymakers need to “play leading roles in better safeguarding their health and well-being,” they write. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2829470?guestAccessKey=62fe1801-5c25-4d50-9766-c3e9d0533124&utm_term=020325&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_medium=referral&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-872_bSjhlBAWWnrd3eL7G3sluDzXQNGZat6ePLYV-My2RgbsJPzqtUd2kjBkmTEXIiJJOYcngxIg2WAjKRPFimdExWew&_hsmi=345537901&utm_content=tfl&utm_source=for_the_media