Today, Sunday May 31, we end the month and enter fully into the summer season. That's right, although there are still about 21 days until summer arrives, the truth is that in some areas of the country the thermometer begins to rise, reaching temperatures more typical of the hot months.
With this season comes the risk of suffering a heat wave, but ... Did you know that cold weather is more dangerous than hot? A study published in the journal »The Lancet» has reached this conclusion. Keep reading to know more.
It turns out that we tend to believe that extreme weather is responsible for the highest number of deaths, since current health policies focus on protecting our health during the summer period, as explained by Dr Gasparini, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (located in the UK).
Gasparini and his team analyzed more than 74 million deaths between 1985 and 2012 in 13 countries of a great diversity of climates, ranging from cold to tropical. For this, several variables were taken into account, such as medium temperature or the moisture, and thus be able to calculate the optimal temperature (that is, temperatures pleasant for the human body) of mortality. Deaths due to non-optimal ambient temperatures (extreme temperatures) of each place investigated were also quantified.
Thus, they verified that around 7% of all deaths were caused by non-optimal temperatures, of which 7% of all of them were due to cold temperatures. Only 29% of deaths were attributed to heat.
These data can help expand the public health protection program, not only during the summer, but especially also during the winter.
Having said that, use sunscreen during the hottest months, and… don't forget to protect you from the cold.