Climate change and disorders of the nervous system

Sanjay M Sisodiya; Medine I Gulcebi; Francesco Fortunato; James D Mills; Ethan Haynes; Elvira Bramon; Paul Chadwick; Olga Ciccarelli; Anthony S David; Kris De Meyer; Nick C Fox; Joanna Davan Wetton; Martin Koltzenburg; Dimitri M Kullmann; Manju A Kurian; Hadi Manji; Mark A Maslin; Manjit Matharu; Hugh Montgomery; Marina Romanello; David J Werring; Lisa Zhang; Karl J Friston; Michael G Hanna

doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(24)00087-5

Climate change and disorders of the nervous system

Lancet Neurol. 2024 Jun;23(6):636-648. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(24)00087-5.

Authors

Sanjay M Sisodiya¹, Medine I Gulcebi², Francesco Fortunato², James D Mills², Ethan Haynes², Elvira Bramon³, Paul Chadwick⁴, Olga Ciccarelli⁵, Anthony S David³, Kris De Meyer⁶, Nick C Fox⁷, Joanna Davan Wetton⁴, Martin Koltzenburg⁸, Dimitri M Kullmann⁹, Manju A Kurian¹⁰, Hadi Manji¹¹, Mark A Maslin¹², Manjit Matharu¹³, Hugh Montgomery¹⁴, Marina Romanello¹⁵, David J Werring¹⁶, Lisa Zhang⁴, Karl J Friston¹⁷, Michael G Hanna¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK; Chalfont Centre for Epilepsy, Chalfont-St-Peter, UK. Electronic address: s.sisodiya@ucl.ac.uk.
² Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK; Chalfont Centre for Epilepsy, Chalfont-St-Peter, UK.
³ Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK.
⁴ Centre for Behaviour Change, University College London, London, UK.
⁵ Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK; National Institute of Health Research University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK.
⁶ UCL Climate Action Unit, University College London, London, UK.
⁷ Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK; Department of the UK Dementia Research Institute, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
⁸ Department of Clinical and Movement Neuroscience, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
⁹ Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Developmental Neurosciences, Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
¹¹ National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK.
¹² Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK; Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹³ Headache and Facial Pain Group, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UCL and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK.
¹⁴ Department of Medicine, University College London, London, UK.
¹⁵ Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK.
¹⁶ Stroke Research Centre, Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
¹⁷ Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
¹⁸ Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases, Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK; MRC International Centre for Genomic Medicine in Neuromuscular Diseases, Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.

PMID: 38760101
DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(24)00087-5

Abstract

Anthropogenic climate change is affecting people's health, including those with neurological and psychiatric diseases. Currently, making inferences about the effect of climate change on neurological and psychiatric diseases is challenging because of an overall sparsity of data, differing study methods, paucity of detail regarding disease subtypes, little consideration of the effect of individual and population genetics, and widely differing geographical locations with the potential for regional influences. However, evidence suggests that the incidence, prevalence, and severity of many nervous system conditions (eg, stroke, neurological infections, and some mental health disorders) can be affected by climate change. The data show broad and complex adverse effects, especially of temperature extremes to which people are unaccustomed and wide diurnal temperature fluctuations. Protective measures might be possible through local forecasting. Few studies project the future effects of climate change on brain health, hindering policy developments. Robust studies on the threats from changing climate for people who have, or are at risk of developing, disorders of the nervous system are urgently needed.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Climate Change*
Humans
Nervous System Diseases* / epidemiology