“The scale of potential effects of climate change on neurological diseases is likely to be substantial,” wrote epilepsy researcher Sanjay Sisodiya, PhD, of University College London, and co-authors in a Lancet Neurologyopens in a new tab or window essay.

In a review of 332 articles that spanned several decades, Sisodiya and colleagues found that the incidence, prevalence, and severity of many neurologic conditions were affected by climate change.

In some countries, including the U.S. and South Korea, rising temperatures and humidity extremes were associated with higher ischemic stroke incidence, they reported. In other countries, cold periods upped the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage.

Multiple sclerosis patients reported worse symptoms when temperatures were higher than the long-term average, they added. Migraine admissions to the emergency department rose when days were hotter. Regional climate-related conditions have been associated with tick-borne encephalitis and mosquito-borne infections, and in several countries, Alzheimer’s- and dementia-related hospital admissions increased when temperatures climbed.

Climate shifts that affected neurologic disorders included both low and high […]