Exposure to smoke from wildfires was associated with a large increase in California emergency department (ED) visits for heart disease and stroke during the 2015 wildfire season, a review of more than 1 million ED visits in affected regions found.
During dense smoke days, a 42% increase in ED visits for heart attack and a 22% increase in visits for ischemic heart disease were found among individuals ages 65 and older, reported Ana G. Rappold, PhD, of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Durham, N.C., and colleagues.
Wildfire smoke exposure is an established risk factor for respiratory illnesses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, but the impact of breathing particulate air pollution from wildfire smoke on the risk for cardiovascular events -- such as ischemic stroke, heart failure and myocardial infarction (MI) -- is less well characterized.
"It is very common to see people in emergency rooms with COPD exacerbations or other respiratory problems around the time of wildfires, but stroke and MI are relatively uncommon," co-author Zachary S. Wettstein, BA, of the University of California, San Francisco, told MedPage Today. "You need a very large number of emergency room visits to study this."
The increase in hospital ED visits for stroke, heart attack and other cardiovascular causes was most pronounced in elderly people.