Living in a place with lots of heat waves is aging you faster: study

Extreme heat can trigger excessive sweating that overwhelms the body’s natural cooling system, potentially leading to heat cramps, heat stroke and even death in severe, untreated cases.

An international team of researchers has identified a more subtle consequence of extreme heat — it may accelerate the aging process.

Environmental epidemiologists analyzed 15 years of health data from nearly 25,000 adults in Taiwan and determined that two years of cumulative heat wave exposure can add eight to 12 days to a person’s biological age, a number that reflects the true health of their cells, tissues and organs.

The research, published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change, compared the effect to the impact of a tobacco or alcohol habit.

“While the number itself may look small, over time and across populations, this effect can have meaningful public-health implications,” said Cui Guo, an assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong who led the study.