According to new research, extreme heat is increasingly responsible for the high rate of premature death among heart patients.
The study explained that the findings mean that an average of 49,483 healthy lives are lost each year to heart disease due to extreme heat, and this number could more than double by 2050.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death globally and this condition can be exacerbated by extreme heat.
Lead researcher and environmental health expert Peng Bei from the University of Adelaide said that when the weather is hot, our hearts have to work harder to keep the body cool.
This process increases blood pressure, which can be especially dangerous for people with heart disease.
Researchers are sounding the death knell for a variety of reasons, with climate change posing a fundamental threat to human health and a risk for the increased transmission of deadly infectious diseases.
