January 30, 2019
Higher temperatures from climate change could drive up the number of babies born with congenital heart defects, warns a new study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
By the researchers' estimations, congenital heart defects will probably be seen in more babies between 2025 and 2035 due to their pregnant mothers' exposure to higher temperatures from climate change, especially during the spring and summer months, according to a CNN report:
Climate change could result in as many as 7,000 additional cases of congenital heart defects in the United States over an 11-year period, according to the study. The Midwest will probably see the biggest percent increase, followed by the South and Northeast regions of the United States.
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"Our results highlight the dramatic ways in which climate change can affect human health and suggest that pediatric heart disease stemming from structural heart malformations may become an important consequence of rising temperatures," said lead author Dr. Wangjian Zhang, a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Albany, in a statement.
Researchers calculated their estimates by examining data collected in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, which investigated risk factors for major structural birth defects, alongside climate data from the U.S. government.
Researchers are not sure about the reason for the relationship between maternal heat exposure during pregnancy and heart defects in babies. Research on animals has found that crucial fetal cells my succumb to extreme heat, Environmental Health News reports.
While this research is preliminary, researchers believe that it is best for women to avoid extreme heat during pregnancy — noting that they have been previously overlooked as a vulnerable population in the climate change debate.
