Study: Climate change exacerbates headaches and neurological conditions

Al-Anbat- Noor Banihani

A study affiliated with the American Academy of Neurology warned that climate change may exacerbate headaches and other neurological conditions, and the study stated that the symptoms of these conditions worsen with every sharp change in weather conditions and extreme climatic conditions.

American Academy of Neurology researchers analyzed more than 360 studies, pollutants, temperature extremes, and neurological diseases that happened between 1990 and this year.

The analysis found that extreme weather events showed a significant association with stroke incidence and severity, migraine headaches, slower recovery in Alzheimer's patients, and worsening of multiple sclerosis among adults.

According to researchers, smog from traffic and industry contains small toxic particles called particulate matter, which travel into the bloodstream upon inhalation and eventually settle in the brain.

Climate change, according to the same analysis, created a fertile environment for the emergence of emerging neurological infectious diseases such as West Nile virus and meningitis.

In an interview on this subject, Dr. Rudy Al-Nawwar, a specialist in brain and neurological diseases, said that climate change and pollution affect humans because they lead to certain types of infections, adding that climate change is linked to high temperatures, and thus the health effects of that on the body increase.

Al-Nawwar added that light greatly affects people suffering from migraine, stressing that "when we treat migraine, we talk primarily about avoiding high temperatures and strong light."