Session Highlights
In this WHF Heart Café conversation, moderator David Lloyd (National Heart Foundation Australia & WHF Board) speaks with Dr Maria Neira (WHO), Dr Hatim Kerniss (German Heart Center Bremen), and Dr Georgia Chaseling (University of Sydney) about predicting cardiovascular health in a changing climate. The panel explores how heatwaves, air pollution (PM2.5), and noise elevate risks of MI, stroke, and decompensation, why health framing accelerates policy, and what clinicians, mayors, and systems can do now to build resilient, equitable heart-health responses.
Key takeaways
- Climate–CVD link is immediate: Heatwaves and poor air quality trigger myocardial infarction, stroke, heart-failure decompensation, arrhythmias, and AKI—especially in older adults and people with pre-existing CVD.
- Health argument moves policy: Reframing mitigation/adaptation as primary/secondary prevention helps energy, transport, and urban-planning leaders act; clinician voices are persuasive with media and policymakers.
- From macro to microclimates: Urban heat islands, dense neighborhoods, and low greenery elevate risk; local data convinces city leaders to create cool refuges, shade, ventilation, and low-traffic zones.
- Preparedness beats crisis: Heat–health plans, simple exposure guidance (timing activity, hydration, indoor cooling/filtration), and proactive patient messaging reduce preventable admissions and deaths.
- Mind the guidance gap: CVD-specific advice on heat, air pollution, and noise is limited; update curricula and clinic workflows so teams routinely counsel on environmental risks.
- Displacement & indoor air: In refugee/IDP settings, clean cooking and ventilation cut asthma now and future CVD risk—environmental fixes belong in emergency care.
- Measurement & messaging: Use local AQI and heat alerts (e.g., daily clinic posters, discharge notes) to cue behavior changes and protect high-risk patients.
- Equity first: Costs deter A/C use; prioritize cooling centers, utility support, ultra-low emission zones, safe transit, and greening to protect low-income communities.
Who should watch?
Cardiologists, GPs, nurses, environmental health teams, city mayors/urban planners, emergency managers, public-health officials, patient advocates, and NGOs working on heat-health, air-pollution control, and climate-resilient cardiovascular care.
Climate & CVD – FAQ
- How do heatwaves increase cardiovascular risk?
- Heat drives dehydration, hemoconcentration, BP/HR changes, and renal stress—precipitating HF decompensation, MI, stroke, and arrhythmias, particularly in older adults and those with CVD.
- What can heart patients do on poor air-quality or extreme-heat days?
- Adjust timing of activity, stay in cool/filtered indoor spaces, hydrate, avoid strenuous outdoor exertion near traffic peaks, and follow clinician-provided heat/AQI action plans.
- What should clinicians implement this week?
- Post local AQI & heat alerts in clinic; add a heat/air-quality safety paragraph to discharge letters; review meds that affect thermoregulation; and counsel high-risk patients on simple exposure-reduction steps.
- Which policies deliver the biggest CVD co-benefits?
- Clean energy & transport, urban greening/cooling centers, low-emission zones, and utility support for cooling—implemented with equity—lower PM2.5, heat stress, and cardiovascular events.