Climate change has become a big concern for people all around the world. We are observing temperatures rising every year, and the effect of global warming. Things like the heat affecting the ice caps, living conditions of people as well as the flora and fauna in various places. However, this climate change may also be the reason for increasing diseases among people. Passive effects of the climate change may be something we all deal with, but the increase in temperatures could also be a reason for increase in diseases like cancer in women.

A recent study published in the Frontiers in Public Health journal suggested that as the world gets hotter due to climate change, women may face a greater risk of certain cancers. This research looked at countries in the Middle East and North Africa where rising temperatures have been linked to more cases and deaths from cancers affecting women, like breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers.

What is The Link Between Heat and Cancer?

The study found a clear pattern, whenever the temperature rose, there was an increase in both new cancer cases and deaths among women. This means that as temperatures climb, more women are getting and dying from these specific cancers, especially ovarian and breast cancers.

Even small increases in temperature can have a big impact on public health over time. What's happening in these already hot countries could be a warning sign for other places, like those with cooler climates now, about what might come.

Researchers examined cancer data from 17 countries in the Middle East and North Africa over two decades. These countries are already experiencing significant temperature increases because of climate change.

The study showed that women are more sensitive to health risks related to climate, especially during pregnancy. The findings highlight a strong connection between rising heat and an increase in cancer cases and deaths among women.

Specifically, for every extra degree Celsius, there were an estimated 173 to 280 more cancer cases per 100,000 women. Ovarian cancers saw the biggest increase in cases, while breast cancers had the smallest. Similarly, cancer deaths rose by 171 to 332 per 100,000 women for each degree of temperature rise, with ovarian cancer deaths increasing the most and cervical cancer deaths the least.

Six countries were particularly affected by these increases - Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Syria.

How Does High Temperature Increase Risk of Cancer?

While higher temperatures are likely a direct risk factor, the heat might also worsen other things that cause cancer, like air pollution. Scientists believe that rising temperatures can work in several ways to increase cancer risk. This includes increasing exposure to known cancer-causing substances, making it harder to get healthcare, and possibly even changing how cells in the body behave. All these factors together could raise the risk of cancer over time.

It's important to understand that this study shows a connection, but it doesn't directly prove that climate change causes these cancers. More research is needed to fully understand how higher temperatures might affect cancer risk.

In the meantime, experts say that public health officials should start considering climate-related risks in their plans. This means improving cancer screening programs, creating healthcare systems that can handle climate challenges, and reducing exposure to things in the environment that cause cancer. If we don't address these underlying vulnerabilities, the number of cancer cases linked to climate change will likely keep growing.

A silent killer that is the second leading cause of death among American men, prostate cancer is a disease that has recently come to the forefront of medical research. Studies and new reviews are being done as rates of prostate cancer rise. In 2022, according to the World Cancer Research Fund, there were 1,467,854 cases of prostate cancer in the world.

Diagnosing prostate cancer can be an invasive procedure, like a core needle biopsy or a rectal examination. However, researchers may have found a non-invasive test that could help them identify prostate cancer.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and other institutions have developed a way to test for prostate cancer using a urine sample. This new method could drastically reduce the need for painful and often unnecessary biopsies.

Why Do We Need Better Tests For Prostate Cancer?

Right now, doctors often check for prostate cancer with a blood test that measures something called prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The problem is, the PSA test isn't very precise. A high PSA level can be a sign of cancer, but it can also be a sign of other, less serious issues like an enlarged prostate. Because of this, many men with high PSA levels are told to get a biopsy, which involves using a needle to take tissue samples. This can be painful and sometimes leads to complications. A new test that's more accurate could save a lot of people from having to go through a biopsy they don't need.

How Does The New Urine Test For Prostate Cancer Work?

The new test works by looking for three special biomarkers—TTC3, H4C5, and EPCAM—in a person's urine. These biomarkers are tiny substances that are a sign of prostate cancer. To make sure these biomarkers were truly linked to cancer, the researchers collected urine from men with prostate cancer before and after they had surgery to remove their prostate. They found that the biomarkers were present before the surgery but almost completely disappeared afterward. This proved that they came directly from the prostate cancer tissue.

This new test is also very accurate. In a study, it correctly identified prostate cancer in 91% of people who had it. It also correctly showed that 84% of people who didn't have cancer were in the clear. This is a big improvement over the current PSA test, as it can tell the difference between cancer and other issues, like an enlarged prostate.

Benefits of This Prostate Test for Patients

This new urine test has several major advantages for patients. First, it's noninvasive, which means it's as simple and painless as a regular urine sample. There are no needles or uncomfortable procedures involved. Second, it's more accurate. It can better distinguish between prostate cancer and other conditions like prostatitis (an inflamed prostate) or benign prostatic hyperplasia (an enlarged prostate), which often cause confusion with the current PSA test.

Finally, this test can reduce unnecessary biopsies and help doctors find cancers that would have been missed. By providing a clearer and more precise diagnosis, doctors can feel more confident about who truly needs a biopsy and who doesn't. Researchers are currently working to make the test available for doctors to use in their clinics.

To reach the medical knowledge we have today, we have gone through many theories and phases, trials and errors to now be accurate with our information and remedies. However, it has only been quite recently that mental health is being taken seriously. So how was it dealt with in the past?

One big example of it is something that was debunked quite recently. A belief that the moon influenced people’s moods, to the point that it led people into hysteria.

The idea is ancient, tied to folklore about werewolves and other creatures, and it continues to influence modern belief. For instance, a surprising number of doctors and nurses—up to 80% in one study—still believe the moon affects moods, even though there's no solid science to support it. This enduring myth is a powerful example of how historical misdiagnoses, especially those related to women, have shaped our understanding of health.

History has been a witness to many medical anomalies, surprising ailments and even more astounding treatments. Many of these treatments were for women, which is not the surprising part as history has shown how medical research for women was pushed aside and overlooked to the point that basic illnesses and conditions in women had no cure or proper treatment until recently.

If you are someone who enjoys history, or simply someone who likes reading, then you may know about the word ‘Hysteria’ or ‘Hysterical’. In modern English, it is used to define being frantic or out of control, but did you know, this used to be a formal diagnosis, even thought of as something physical by historical medical practitioners. It was a major source of debate and a prime example of how women's health was misunderstood and often mistreated.

How Has History Treated Women’s Health?

According to the McGill University, The idea of hysteria dates back to ancient Egypt and Greece. Physicians in these societies believed that a woman’s uterus was the source of a wide range of health issues. In ancient Greece, it was believed that the uterus could actually "wander" around the body, pressing on other organs and causing all sorts of symptoms, from anxiety and fainting to insomnia and fevers. This idea was so widespread that the term "hysteria" comes from the Greek word hysteria, which means uterus. Doctors would try to coax the uterus back into place using "good smells" near the vagina and "bad smells" near the mouth.

During the Middle Ages, the understanding of hysteria took a dark turn. The "scientific" view of the wandering uterus was often replaced by a demonological one. Mental illness in women was seen as a sign of sin or a pact with the Devil. Women with symptoms of hysteria were often accused of witchcraft and subjected to exorcisms, torture, and even death. This period marked a major step backward in the treatment of mental health.

Did History Have A Cure For Hysteria?

Later, a Roman physician named Galen offered a different theory. He believed that hysteria was caused by a woman's body holding on to "female seed" or "menstrual blood" instead of releasing it. The solution, he thought, was to get rid of these fluids. Because of this belief, doctors often recommended marriage and regular sex as a cure. For women who were unmarried, widows, or simply couldn't have an orgasm from sex, midwives were sometimes brought in to manually stimulate them. The doctors believed that without this "release," women would suffer from anxiety and other problems.

Was Hysteria Considered A Mental Health Issue?

The Renaissance and the Enlightenment brought a renewed focus on science. Physicians like Thomas Willis and Thomas Sydenham began to suggest that hysteria was linked to the brain and nervous system, not the uterus. This was a revolutionary idea because it meant the condition could affect both men and women, challenging the old belief that it was an exclusively female disease.

In the 19th century, French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot further proved this point by systematically studying hysteria in both sexes. His work paved the way for Sigmund Freud, the "father of psychoanalysis." Freud believed that hysteria was a psychological disorder caused by repressed emotional trauma, not a physical problem. His new approach shifted treatment from physical remedies to talking therapy.

Did Men Also Experience Hysteria?

According to the Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health journal, until the 20th century, hysteria was rarely diagnosed in men. But during World War I, military doctors saw a rise in "shell shock," a condition with symptoms like paralysis and tremors. Many doctors realized these were actually hysterical symptoms, which led to the first widespread recognition of male hysteria. This provided a way for soldiers to escape the battlefield without being seen as cowards.

Studies during World War II also showed a clear difference in how soldiers from different cultures expressed mental distress. For example, British soldiers were more likely to show symptoms of anxiety, while Indian soldiers more often showed physical symptoms of hysteria. This highlighted a key idea: how people express their emotional pain is often shaped by their culture.

Decline of Hysteria in the West

In the second half of the 20th century, psychiatric data showed a dramatic drop in hysteria diagnoses in Western countries. At the same time, there was a sharp increase in diagnoses of anxiety and depression. Doctors believe this shift is linked to "Westernization" and a new emphasis on individualism. In Western societies, people are more likely to see themselves as masters of their own destiny. This can lead to feelings of self-blame and unworthiness when things go wrong, which are classic symptoms of depression. In contrast, in societies with strong group ties, people may be more likely to blame external factors like evil spirits or social pressures for their problems, which could express as physical, hysterical symptoms.

Is ‘Hysteria’ Still Considered A Mental Disorder?

Although hysteria is no longer a diagnosis, its history continues to be seen in modern-day medicine. Researchers who studied patient records from two old hospitals in Sardinia, Italy, found that doctors in the late 1800s and early 1900s were still using ancient treatments for hysteria. For example, they used herbal remedies, purgatives, and even leeches. In some cases, patients were confined to asylums for life with a diagnosis of hysteria, showing that even with advances in medicine, old and harmful beliefs about women's health were slow to change.

As the planet warms, the human body faces stresses beyond mere discomfort. We’ve long known that heat can sap energy, cause dehydration, and strain the cardiovascular system but a new study suggests that exposure to extreme heat may have an even more profound effect- accelerating biological aging, comparable to lifestyle risks like smoking or heavy drinking.

The findings, which was spearheaded by researchers at the University of Hong Kong and was published in Nature Climate Change, illuminates an often-unappreciated effect of climate change, discussing how the environment can change the very rate at which our bodies age.

Biological vs. Chronological Age

Most of us are familiar with chronological age—how many years we’ve been alive. Biological age, however, measures how well our tissues, organs, and cells are functioning. While two people may both be 50 years old chronologically, their biological ages could differ significantly based on genetics, lifestyle, and environmental exposures.

The research highlighted the fact that prolonged exposure to heat waves is the cause of this disparity, over time weakening organ systems, impacting blood pressure, cholesterol levels, liver and renal function, and finally elevating cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and dementia risks.

The researchers studied 24,922 Taiwanese residents who had medical checks between 2008 and 2022. By matching participants' medical histories with heat-wave frequencies at their registered residences, the authors could estimate how repeated exposure to high temperatures affected biological aging through the years.

Taiwan had approximately 30 heat waves over the study period, which were defined as multi-day hot-weather events. The volunteers were separated into four heat-wave exposure groups. Each increase in exposure was linked to an extra 0.023 to 0.031 years of biological age—proof that heat, much like smoking or drinking alcohol, can significantly influence the body's aging process.

Why Have Heat Waves Become A Major Public Health Concern?

Severe heat is not only unpleasant; it can have cumulative, long-term health effects. In a two-year period, repeated heat wave exposure was shown to increase an individual's biological age by eight to 12 days. On an individual basis, this might seem insignificant, but over populations and decades, the effect could be significant.

Older adults, laborers, and those living in rural areas are especially susceptible. These individuals encounter more heat exposure as a result of fewer cooling technologies, longer daylight hours spent outside, or job requirements, and thereby experience greater acceleration of biological aging compared to less exposed populations.

Why Heat Waves Harm Your Body Worse Than Smoking and Drinking?

The research points towards a wider intersection between lifestyle and environment. Biological aging, apart from temperature, is affected by diet, physical fitness, obesity, and socioeconomic status. Heat exposure will possibly enlarge the existing vulnerabilities, particularly in resource-poor communities.

Interestingly, however, the researchers noted a slight decrease in the heat-aging effect during the 15-year study. Although the reason is speculative, they propose greater use of cooling technologies such as air conditioning could reduce some of the effect—a reassuring indication that adaptation strategies can have a real impact.

Climate Change, Aging, and Global Health

By the year 2050, nearly 16 percent of the world's population will be 65 and older. The longer people live, the more vital the quality of those additional years is. Increased biological aging from environmental insults such as heat waves is a threat not just to personal health but to global public health systems.

Policy actions can be required in order to combat environmental inequalities, protect healthy aging, and minimize exposure to high temperatures. The research highlights the imperative for climate adaptation action: heat waves are not a nuisance; they are a silent force behind aging and increased risk of chronic disease.

Although heat-induced aging is not a sudden health emergency, in the larger scheme of health hazards, it is a cumulative, insidious one. The results of the study reaffirm that lifestyle factors such as abstention from smoking and excessive alcohol consumption—remain important, but exposure to the environment is equally so.

Knowledge about how heat waves interact with the body at a cellular level brings new possibilities for public health planning. For individuals, uncomplicated adaptation measures—drinking plenty of fluids, keeping outdoor activity to the coolest part of the day, and employing cooling technology can potentially counteract biological aging in a hotter world.

Climate change is expected to make extreme heat events more intensive and more common. Healthy aging will depend on safeguarding susceptible groups, improving access to cooling services, and incorporating environmental risk factors into public health interventions.