United States: Thousands of Americans with heart problems have small, implanted defibrillators to help control their heartbeat.
But new research shows that on very hot days, these people are three times more likely to have a dangerous heart rhythm problem called atrial fibrillation (A-fib). This risk could increase as climate change makes hot days more common.
As reported by the HealthDay, “People especially those already at risk of prone to raised body temperature should pay attention to these insights and make sure they do all what is within their power to stay cool and well hydrated,” added Dr. Sanjay Rajagopalan, an expert volunteering his opinion for the American Heart Association (AHA) that endorses the findings above.). He did not participate in the new study.
“This may be the first study that showed some relationship between temperature rise and identification of A-fib through ICD,” Rajagopalan, a professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland added to the AHA news release.
These findings accord with other recent studies highlighting relationship between the external temperature and cardiovascular health. With A-fib incidence rising as a population age and struggles with obesity, we may now also have to add warm temperatures to the list.”
These new findings will be presented today at the AHA’s annual meeting in Chicago.
The new study was conducted by Dr. Barrak Alahmad, a research fellow in environmental health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. His team followed patient records of over 2000 nationwide who received an ICD or CRT-D between 2016 and 2023.
The patients were 69.6 years old on average, and a majority of them, 78%, were male. Prevalence of obesity and most of the patients suffered from cardiomyopathy, when the heart muscle becomes ineffective.
Patients who receive implanted defibrillators have those defibrillators record episodes of A-fib, which the team compared to the outside temperatures of the patient’s location on the day the A-fib happened.
The team said that the “best” outside temperature that can lower the risk of A-fib, is still quite chilly, within the range of 41-46F.
But days with extremely high temperature raised a defib user’s risk for A-fib to even higher levels.
For example, this is compared to the ideal outside the temperature and the participants had nearly three times of developing A-fib on a day’s registering 102.2 degrees F or higher than that Alahmad’s team reported.