Changes in weather generally affect everyone, however, the impact is always harsher on aging adults. As we grow older, our body’s ability to regulate temperature begins to weaken. In addition to aging, some medications also make them vulnerable to weather changes like heat. These are ways weather change in Summerville, SC can affect aging adults:
Heat Injuries
When weather changes occur and there is a high temperature it is often damaging to aging adults. The temperature can be so hot that the body temperature refuses to cool down. This exposure will lead to other heat illnesses and deaths in aging adults.
This heat illness is common in regions with higher temperatures. Adults with conditions such as diabetes are greatly affected when the weather becomes hotter. Aging adults living in cities can be affected by the urban heat island effect. This happens when the pavements absorb sunlight, radiate heat, and increase the temperature of the city.
Mental Health
Changes in weather can result in natural disasters like floods, hurricanes, and wildfires. All the events can lead to emotional trauma in aging adults. Most especially, people living with cognitive conditions like Alzheimer’s and dementia. It becomes harder for them to respond and cope with the events. These conditions and other ones like air pollution affect the cognitive ability to age adults.
Sundowners Syndrome
Daylight patterns affect aging adults especially the ones living with Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other cognitive problems. It can lead to Sundowners Syndrome which often increases the level of confusion in aging adults at dusks.
This condition becomes harder on them during winter when there is limited sunlight as an aging adult does not easily adjust to daylight savings time. Team members in retirement communities handle this by ensuring their activities do not change. This will allow aging adults with dementia to easily adjust to changes in daylight savings.
Worsen Chronic Conditions
The constant change in temperature that happens when season changes can worsen some conditions in an aging adult. During winters, Arthritic issues worsen, and aging adults sustain more injuries as a result of the freezing weather. In addition, poor air quality due to weather pollution can worsen conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Additionally, aging adults living in buildings with poor ventilation are often exposed to indoor air pollutants. The air pollutants are often composed of bacteria and mold resulting from weather events like floods and storms. These pollutants can increase the risk of heart attacks, especially in aging adults who are diabetic or obese.
Cardiovascular Mortality
Heat waves increase morbidity and mortality rates among aging adults with cardiovascular diseases. This occurs as a result of an increase in blood pressure and heart rate. Extremely hot temperatures can impair the structure and tone of blood vessels by interfering with the production of cytokine.
Aging adults also tend to experience an increase in blood viscosity which makes them more dehydrated in high temperatures. In addition, heart diseases and issues with blood vessels increase as we age. The rate of these conditions increases with continuous exposure to higher or lower temperatures. Other factors that can trigger these conditions include poor air quality and stress due to weather changes.
