The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published a report in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology that offers recommendations and resources to assist allergists and immunologists in supporting patients as they become affected by climate change. In two articles, Healio interviewed two of the three report authors. They discuss the comprehensive approach the CDC has implemented with respect to climate change for more than a decade, potential effects on patients, ways clinicians can assist patients, ways patients can help themselves, CDC resources and the CDC’s next anticipated step in their climate change strategy.
Climate change may have more severe effect on children’s health, according to a review published in the New England Journal of Medicine by researchers from Stanford University and Columbia University. In two interviews, one of the authors discussed the content of the review. One of the authors explained that children are at higher risk for health changes due to air pollution and impacts from a changing climate for a variety of reasons. Children “need more air on a per pound basis and regulate temperature differently than adults. Their bodies also metabolize toxins differently.” She also noted climate change is expected to affect every child worldwide and explained that the review discusses ways to reduce exposure, effects on mental health and occurrence in disadvantaged communities.