THE IMPACT OF WEATHER CONDITIONS ON CARDIOVASCULAR, RESPIRATORY, AND GASTROENTERIC HEALTH

全球暖化和地區氣候變化的健康影響在近年廣受注意。本文回顧氣象變化和心血管、呼吸道及腸胃道疾病之間的相關性文獻，並進一步探討未來研究方向。目前證實極端氣候變化具有健康衝擊，對心血管疾病的風險高於呼吸道及其他疾病，尤其是在熱浪及寒流期間。熱浪對健康影響較冷氣候立即，而寒冷則有較長的影響期間。長期淫雨或暴雨導致飲水不淨，增加腸胃道疾病的風險，已開發國家亦不例外。年齡、性別、社經狀態、地區氣候等為影響氣象變化對健康衝擊評估之相關因子，年長者尤為敏感。氣象對疾病發生的生物機制、氣象與大氣環境交互作用，對疾病的影響以及氣象、健康參數及模式的選擇等，對所有的風險估計而言均有一定的影響，這其中錯綜複雜的相關性仍待許多研究去探討，和疾病相關的氣候因子的防預之道亦為公共衛生關切的課題。 The health effect of global warming and regional climate changes has attracted considerable attention in recent years. This article reviews the recent publications on the associations between weather conditions and cardiovascular, respiratory, and gastrointestinal diseases. Temperature change has a stronger association with the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases than gastrointestinal diseases, particularly during extreme conditions such as heat waves and cold spells, which may lead to significant excess mortality. The health impact is immediate from a heat wave because of the shorter latency effect, while cold whether may have a health impact that is persists over a longer period of time. Individuals with cardiovascular disease are more sensitive to low temperatures than those with respiratory disease. Gastroenteritis occurs when clean water is unavailable, as a result of prolonged rainfall or unusually heavy precipitation. Such heavy rainfall during storms has an increased effect on gastrointestinal disorders, even with populations ill developed nations. Age, gender, socioeconomic status, and regional climate are modifiers with respect to the health impact of weather. The elderly are particularly sensitive to changes in temperature. The interaction among air pollution, biological mechanisms, socioeconomic status, and health care availability associated with the health impact of weather changes is not completely known. It would thus be useful to estimate how these factors influence the health risks associated with various whether conditions and in different geographic areas . Prevention strategies associated with these variations are additional issues of public health importance.