Why do older patients die in a heatwave?
Authors:
Open Access
- 22 February 2005
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in QJM: An International Journal of Medicine
- Vol. 98 (3) , 227-229
Abstract
More than 11 000 people were registered as dying in France during the first two weeks of August, 2003.1 This confirmed a significant increase in mortality compared with a similar period in recent years. The majority of excess mortality appears to have occurred in older, frail individuals who were thought to have tolerated poorly the extremes of heat experienced in France at that time.2 Some potential mechanisms underlying this increase in death rate are discussed in this article.Keywords
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