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Heat waves might speed up your biological aging: Study
Turns out, heat waves don't just make you sweaty—they might actually speed up how quickly your body ages.
Researchers from the University of Hong Kong studied nearly 25,000 people in Taiwan over 14 years and found that more exposure to heat waves was linked to faster biological aging—kind of like what happens with smoking or drinking.
The study was published in Nature Climate Change.
Urgent need for policies to protect vulnerable groups
The researchers noticed that each jump in heat wave exposure nudged people's biological age higher (by about 0.02-0.03 years).
With the world getting hotter and an aging population on the rise, the team is urging for better policies to protect vulnerable groups and help everyone adapt to climate change's health impacts.