Merxwire
21 Aug 2022, 18:37 GMT+10
A study found that global warming may disrupt human sleep, activate inflammation, and increase the risk of infectious diseases in humans. The research was published in the international journal Temperature.
Washington, D.C. (Merxwire) - Have you ever had trouble falling asleep on summer nights? Or have you ever woken up in the middle of the night because it was too hot? Most people don't think this problem is serious. Still, the temperature is too high, and people can't have a good quality of sleep, affecting not only life and work but also physical health, including being more likely to get sick.
Our planet is warming, and as the temperature rises in recent years, more and more animals are struggling to survive. Global warming has reduced global insect populations and biodiversity, increased the risk of natural disasters, and disrupted the balance of marine ecology. The problems caused by global warming are not only these! Scientists have also discovered another vital issue: rising ambient temperatures may increase the risk of human infectious diseases.
A study from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that thermoregulation and sleep are closely related and that impaired thermoregulation, along with elevated ambient temperatures, may increase the risk of sleep disturbances. When sleep is disturbed, people's immune system is susceptible to being affected, and proinflammatory cytokines are increased when inflammatory cells and genomic markers are activated.
Elevated proinflammatory cytokines may lead to sleep fragmentation, and when sleep efficiency and deep sleep are reduced, the risk of inflammation and related diseases increases. In other words, elevated ambient temperature, sleep disturbances, and risk of inflammation are associated with and influence each other. A warmer planet means more people may struggle to get a good night's sleep, and it could also make it harder for the body to fight off infections.
The study noted that sleep disturbances had additional potent effects on reducing adaptive immune response, impairing vaccine responses, and increasing susceptibility to infectious diseases.
"No one has previously put together this notion that the ongoing climate crisis is contributing to sleep disturbance and that it's possibly contributing to the altered risk of infectious disease we're seeing," said Dr. Michael R. Irwin.
Dr. Irwin said future research on this topic should assess how changing ambient temperature affects sleep and immune function. On the other hand, attention should also be paid to how rising ambient temperatures may affect diverse and disadvantaged communities.
"This issue also has important implications for disparities, as low-income communities and communities of color face are at risk of heat and have less access to air conditioning," Dr. Irwin said. "Just like the pandemic is impacting socioeconomically disadvantaged and ethnic groups disproportionately with more morbid outcomes, it might be that increase in ambient temperature we're seeing are further exaggerating those risk profiles."
Get a daily dose of California Telegraph news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to California Telegraph.
More InformationIsrael intensified its deadly bombardment of the Gaza Strip Saturday as renewed fighting with Hamas entered a second day following ...
ARLINGTON, Virginia: This week, the conservative U.S. political network Americans for Prosperity Action (AFP Action), led by billionaire Charles Koch, ...
BEIJING, China: The Chaoyang District Intermediary Court in Beijing has begun compensation hearings for the Chinese relatives of those who ...
Israel resumed its military operation in the Gaza Strip on Friday with heavy bombardments. As strikes continue, the United States ...
LIVINGSTON, Kentucky: CSX railroad said that a failed wheel bearing on a train car caused a derailment on November 22 ...
HELSINKI, Finland: After Finland joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) earlier this year, hundreds of migrants from the Middle ...
LONDON, UK: In a report released this week, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said that Singapore and Zurich tied for ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: This week, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it implemented a new aircraft certification policy, which requires ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: As businesses built more warehouses and accumulated machinery equipment, the U.S. economy grew faster than initially forecast in ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: This week, the White House said that Senior Biden administration officials met with the makers of respiratory syncytial ...
CHEYENNE, Wyoming: This week, the Biden administration raised US$3.4 million from a sale of oil and gas drilling rights in ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks extended their rally on Friday despite remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell ...