Citation

Escourrou P. Energy Build. 1991; 16(1-2): 735-741.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0378-7788(91)90045-5

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Winter and summer can threaten human health. In winter, susceptibility to diseases becomes greater: the three winters of 1985-1987 were very cold with a rise of 13% in the death rate during the first, essentially due to pulmonary and circulatory diseases. Elderly people whose bodies are less resistant are more susceptible to diseases, as shown by the epidemics of influenza and the attempted suicides. In summer, heatwaves can become very dangerous. In 1976, mortality was greater in large towns: in one quarter of Paris, there was a 48% rise in deaths of people aged more than 60 years; their bodies could no longer withstand the heat at night. Climatic variability is also a cause of death. Myocardial infarctions and cerebral vascular accidents are most frequent when an active meteorological depression brings a cold front and a large rise in barometric pressure. Asthma is more frequent in spring, due to a steep increase in air dryness or to days with covered skies which are mild and moist. The pre-storm syndrome is studied, when a few people were killed in road accidents, apparently without reason, but one or two hours before a storm broke out. © 1991.

Language: en

Keywords

Accidents; Asthma; Diseases; Climate; Health Care; Biomedical Engineering; Human Health; Parisian Region; Pulmonary Diseases; Risk Studies--Health Risks