Tag: health

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Gone napping

There are cultures where naps are part of a national identity. People living in hot climates are very familiar with the benefits of a napping. Due global warming, the spread of napping as a time to recover or limit yourself from strain during the hottest hours during a day. Napping is not limited to humans, the animal world has many species which also adopted the power of napping. As with many processes the duration is of crucial importance. In short, don’t overdo it. Too long a nap is likely to impede a good night’s rest. Even while at work,  colleagues manage to throw in a short re-powering session at times locking doors to feel safe. Techniques differ, but the hotter the workplace, the more the healthy they are. Efficiency and overall productivity at work do not suffer. In many creative professions the time spent at your desk correlates little with indicators of success. However, we still know little about the effects of regular napping on longevity. 

Phoques on beach 2026-9

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Stress in the City

Before the stress in the city makes you sick, try new coping strategies. Of course, you cannot avoid the stress of hotspots like busy crossings or noisy construction sites. And these are only the visible stressors not to mention fine dust particles or mixtures of fragrances. Scientists have started to address these issues under the title of neuro-urbanism. This topic is part of a broader agenda on public mental health which addresses the rise in mental disorders globally. Expanding urbanization is considered a major driver of an often overwhelming cognitive load in cities. Growing into it helps, but many move to cities for professional reasons or simply a job being largely unprepared to the practice of daily commuting for years. Several potential stressors tend to cumulate: High Social density, broad diversity in aesthetics as well as social structure, relationships, social participation or public transport as part of mobility make cities interesting or hard to cope with.

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Heat Health Protection

The heat waves of 2026 had serious health impacts in Europe and beyond. Hence, it is urgent to propose better protections to shield people from negative heat exposure which worsened the health of millions of people. Digital tools which work to personalize heat warnings and increase preventive strategies like drinking water or reduce physical activity outside during the hottest times of the day. Sounds simple, but thousands of people continue to put themselves at risk to suffer seriously from heat exposure. The macro-level general population warning’s could be much more specific if they included additionally the relevant medical conditions of an individual (Du et al. 2026). Prior health conditions affect the general preparedness to cope with heat. We have an obvious case of bi-directional causality. A worsening heat health spiral could be at the origin of so many premature deaths during heat waves. Search for “cool locations” should be considered very seriously for heat-health protection.

Notre Dame Paris 2026-8

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Heat Mortality

Heat waves can be deadly for humans, animals and vegetation. According to the cumulative estimates by the RKI (Robert Koch Institute) in Germany up until 2026-7-26 there were 11.900 deaths within the confidence interval between 10.700 to 13.100 of the estimates. About 6.000 of the people who died due to the heat waves were aged 85+. 1.140 were attributed to persons younger than 65. Chronological age appears to be a significant factor as frequently chronic diseases accumulate in older individuals as well as poly-pharmacy. Hydration levels and deficiencies are associated with the increased mortality, but we have few or no precise measures of hydration readily available for people before it becomes an emergency (cognitive impairments). We know a lot about precision medicine. However, precision hydration for people remains rather arbitrary. 

On graveyard inscriptions

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Climate Anxiety

The events of several wildfires and a too hot summer in 2026 have raised the level of anxiety related to climate change for many people. From the field of economics we know that the fear of an economic recession can be as bad for the economy as a statistical economic downturn. The anxiety about climate related bad events can trigger or worsen symptoms of depression. The research by Zacher and Kühner (2026) shows that psychological evidence supports this hypothesis. The 1 year follow-up clarified, that the opposite direction of causality is not supported by the data analysis. A pre-existing depression is not worsening due to climate change. The consequence of these results is that the total number of persons with depression is likely to increase with an additional source of depression, for example after experiencing a wildfire. Oceans are warming and the number of injuries on beaches due to poisoning from algae or medusaes (jellyfish) become more frequent as well. Lots of sources for increasing climate related anxieties. In the economic costs of global warming and climate change we frame this as second round effects of climate change.

young curious boy touching jellyfish on beach

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Stinging issues

Sometimes a topic can make it into the headlines only if it is a stinging issue. The fact that certain mosquitoes travel and survive further north due to global warming is indeed such a stinging issue. As the living conditions for mosquitoes depend on warm weather conditions particularly during (tropical) nights as well as water availability for breeding purposes, the spread of mosquitoes can already be observed studying the spread of dengue fever, malaria and chikungunya in some southern European and American countries. Climate change, especially the warming parts of it,  shall bring home a number of stinging issues and consequences to people who didn’t seem to know or care about the spread of spread of infectious diseases.  

Green land in summer between Priesterweg and Südkreuz Berlin 2026

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Preventable Asthma Burden

The global burden of disease data, analyses and projections allow us to identify more clearly the parameters to influence and prevent rising global burdens of disease. Among the so-called non-communicable (i. e. not infectious) diseases Asthma plays an important role.  Heat waves (wild fires) and air pollution (road transport, heating emissions) are major contributors to the burden of disease. In addition to the health related suffering of a population, the economic losses for groups of countries have been estimated by a recent study (Chen et al. 2026).  For the UK another study showed that 2/3 of asthma attributed deaths were preventable. This raises our awareness to the fact that adequate health care systems and the distribution as well application of asthma medications can help a great deal to lower also the economic impacts due to uncontrolled asthma. The labour-induced costs (lost years of production) are likely to be higher in the low-income countries, whereas capital-induced costs (in form of opportunity costs of health expenditure) accrue more in the higher- income countries. With the successive heat waves in 2026 and continued global warming, the estimated global burden of asthma is most likely a lower bound estimate of the economic impact. A focus on asthma prevention becomes a pressing concern today to prepare for the future.

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Cardiac arrest detection

The number 1 cause of death is cardiac arrest in the modern world. Hence, the interest in the detection of cardiac arrest could save many lives. For assistance to arrive and intervene in time an alert needs to be issued as soon as possible. With early detection by nearby persons and skilled intervention the survival chances are about 50% of cases. The “silent” at home cardiac arrest is an important health and survival issue. The availability of wrist bands and watches which can issue alerts in combination with smartphones has risen considerably in recent years. Therefore, the improvement of reliable algorithms which interpret these data can realistically save lives as the delays can potentially be shortened for professional helpers to arrive. The study by Edgar et al. (2026) tested such a device and were able to show the very low number of false alarms issued by this device (about 1 out of 40). Extrapolated to millions of cases the challenge to a health care system is steep. However, we have to deal with such socio-economic issues of digital devices in medicine in the coming years more often.

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Brussels relaxes

Especially during the weekends and the summer activities some roads can be blocked for other uses. The obese societies of the 21 century need to make room for more exercise wherever possible. Brussels has done so for more than 5 years already. The “Bois de la Cambre” offers an amazing space to all those seeking respite from the busy and warm urban surroundings (Image below). Children and families exercise all sorts of activities and sports. The closed roads are perfect for cycling and jogging as well as the learning of both. Levels of air pollution drop and the running sport is no health hazard as in inner cities. Each and everybody advances at her/his own rhythm (Video Weekend jogging in Bois de la Cambre on Road 2026) or just watches others passing by. Ways to relax in cities are manifold, in a matter of choice and commitment. Commit to relax and detox, at least on weekends. This can be quite a behavioral change with serious health benefits.

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The next big challenge in medicine and public health seems to be the multiple long-term conditions. Many people do not suffer from just one medical condition, but several ones at the same time. Diabetes is one such condition which frequently comes along in combination with other conditions. The definition of Multiple long-term conditions comprises 2 and more conditions like cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory or cancer, to name just a few of the more common ones. Our health and care systems are little prepared for adequate treatments as this involves a coordinated intervention and poly-pharmaceutical therapy. Changes in a single condition have repercussions in the condition and treatment. This makes adequate treatment a resourceful process with limited knowledge about the multiple interactions and intervening parameters. Add, for example, depression to any of the above mentioned conditions and the behavioral assumptions of correctly taking prescribed medication becomes a major issue for patients. The challenge for aging societies and societies with more people suffering from early onset of obesity and diabetes increases in the coming decades. There are several teams that address these challenges in research which gives hope to all those suffering already from Multiple long-term conditions.