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New Research: Climate Change and the Aging Brain
The climate crisis is making it harder to protect cognitive health in later life.
Key Points
- Climate change worsens established dementia risk factors like social isolation, poor air quality, and barriers to medical care.
- People living with dementia are especially vulnerable to climate impacts, including extreme heat and disruptions to caregiving.
- The burden falls hardest on communities of color and low-income communities.
Key Points
- Research what potential hazards may occur in your community.
- Sign up for your county’s emergency alert system.
- Use the questionnaires below to identify your needs during a disaster.
Tools
- Research what potential hazards may occur in your community.
- Sign up for your county’s emergency alert system.
If you or a family member is getting older, you’ve likely seen the standard advice for reducing dementia risk: eat healthy, manage your blood pressure, stay mentally active, and complete the daily crossword. But new research is revealing how environmental factors shape dementia risk – and how those factors are impacted by the climate crisis.
A recent article published in The Gerontologist, “A Framework for Assessing the Effects of Climate Change on Dementia Risk and Burden,” offers an eye-opening look at how the climate crisis is making it harder to protect cognitive health in later life.
The article outlines existing risk factors for dementia like social isolation and poor air quality and explains how climate change is making each of them worse. A hurricane can set a family back thousands of dollars in repairs, making routine medical feel unaffordable. Prolonged power outages can make it harder to stay socially connected with others in the midst of rebuilding after a disaster.
People already living with dementia face increased difficulties due to climate impacts. Extreme heat, for example, can be especially disorienting and agitating for those with dementia in part because cognitive impairments can reduce one’s ability to regulate temperature. Damage to physical infrastructure and road closures can impact a caretaker’s ability to show up for their patients.
The burden of climate change is not shared equally. The same person struggling to afford medical care may also live in a disadvantaged neighborhood at high risk of flooding, farther from cooling centers, and with fewer resources to rebuild after a disaster. These risk factors compound to create challenges for communities of color and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.
In response to these intersecting crises, it has never been more important to recognize climate change as a public health crisis. We know that climate mitigation and adaptation are integral to building healthy communities, but they also will improve the lives of people with dementia and their caregivers.