CLIMATE CHANGE & Women Health

Now a days rapid deterioration of the environment due to climate change is a global public health emergency. There is global warming, increased pollution, natural disasters, diseases like epidemics and pandemics, global economic crisis; all requiring serious global actions to reduce  greenhouse gases emission. This is significant because all these problems are a major cause of concern for the global health of our future generations.

Various research studies have shown disproportionate effects of climate change on women of all ages, in terms of malnutrition, diseases, poor mental and physical health and lack of access to reproductive healthcare. Therefore threatening to widen pre-existing gender based health disparities.

This blog would educate and guide about this emerging problem and it’s possible solutions:

What is climate change?
Greenhouse gases around earth act like a blanket, preventing heat loss from earth and maintaining a habitable environment at our home planet. Burning of fossil fuels has increased the greenhouse gases, resulting in rise of OPU earth temperature. This has also caused holes in protective ozone layers, resulting in more entry of hazardous sun rays. All this along with pollution is resulting in climate change.

What are its effects?
Climate change is affecting the water we drink, food we eat and the air we breathe. In addition to catastrophes of floods, soil erosion, droughts, famines, and wildfires.

How is climate change affecting our world health?
The changing climate is increasing temperature of earth resulting in more waterborne diseases like cholera, typhoid, infections, insects, and rodent diseases like plague, Enola, bird-flu, malaria, dengue. This increase in disease prevalence is becoming a burden on world socio-economic development.

What are problems associated with climate change?
There are many global environmental problems associated with the climate change, some of them are:

• Water, air, and land pollution
• Poor water quality
• Food insecurity
• Lack of access to medical care or poor infrastructure of health facilities
• Diseases caused by microbes
• Economic crises

Which people are affected more?
There are various factors associated with more effect of climate change on people, such as:

• Under privileged areas of world
• Extremes of Age
• Gender (Women are affected more)
• Income
• Occupation (people working outdoors are more prone)
• Pre-existing medical conditions

What are risks for women due to climate change?
Women are more prone to diseases, socio-economic dependence, violence, poor physical, mental, and reproductive health, obstetrical complications, and death.

Why it’s important for women to know the effects of climate change on their heath?
Since nearly half of our world population is female who as mothers, daughters and sisters have a vital role of a caregiver and ultimate support pillar of a traditional family. We cannot put extra burden on them for looking after themselves, if a family member is affected by climate change, ignoring their own health. We need healthy women to raise strong, healthy generations.

How air pollution affects women heath?
Air pollution has increased during last few decades, due to increase in burning fossil fuels. It affects differently at each age group.

In early life: the rise in temperature has increased incidence of heat stroke, skin allergies, allergic asthma, and lung infections. 

During middle-ages: heart diseases, diabetes, old age, heart attacks, strokes, cancers, and memory loss are common.

Reproductive age group: women exposure to pollutants, increase risk of abortions, premature deliveries, still births, low birthweight, and early neonatal deaths.

How chemical pollutants in environment is affecting women reproductive health?
Women are exposed to chemicals like organic pollutants, fertilizers, insecticides, and endocrine disruptive chemicals  such as polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated biphenyl’s, bisphenol A BPA contained in plastics, and food storage chemicals.

What are effects of endocrine disruptive factors?
These interfere with synthesis, action, and metabolism of sex steroid hormones causing early puberty, damage to genetic material of ova and sperms, respiratory problems, altered nervous system chemicals (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson). Also, metabolic problems like diabetes, heart diseases, altered immune response and hormone dependent cancers.

Could age of menarche be affected by climate change?
Age of menarche depends on genetic factors, precise hormone balance in body, diet, and body growth rate. But it can be altered by certain metabolic disorders (insulin resistance), diseases, radiation exposure, and drugs. Variabilities of weather, temperature, exercise, eating habits, sleep pattern and climate change could indirectly affect age menarche.

Does menstrual cycle vary during winters and summers?
There is an indirect effect of changing temperatures on menstrual cycle. Low temperature during winters affects food intake, exercise patterns and more time is spent indoors. Therefore, the precise balance of hormones (FSH/ LH ratio) could alter resulting in prolong anovulatory cycles. Whereas increase in temperature, more time is spent in bright sunlight, different food preferences during summers are associated with totally different lifestyle, with high (FSH) hormone levels and ovulatory short cycles.

Do days of bleeding differ in various climate changes?
No, as it’s the shedding of lining of uterus each month, the days of bleeding vary individually depending on various hormone levels, thickness of lining of uterus and pattern of cycle.

Does climate change affect menstrual cycles?
Yes, it can indirectly affect menstrual cycle by unbalancing hormones through chemical pollutants (endocrine disruptive factors).

What measures should be taken individually and globally to minimize these effects?
At individual level:

• Reduce, Recycle, and Reuse
• Better Approach to clean water, food, shelter, better health facilities

Globally:

• Women empowerment
• Considering and integrating gendered perspective in all preventive, disaster management development programs

Remember, climate change is becoming a serious threat for our health. It’s time to take action NOW, before it’s too late.

Dr. Ayesha Azam Khan