Background: Climate change, particularly global warming, is amongst the greatest threats to human health. While short-term effects of heat exposure in pregnancy, such as preterm birth, are well documented, long-term effects have received less attention. This review aims to systematically assess evidence on the long-term impacts on the foetus of heat exposure in utero.

Methods: A search was conducted in August 2019 and updated in April 2023 in MEDLINE(PubMed). We included studies on the relationship of environmental heat exposure during pregnancy and any long-term outcomes. Risk of bias was assessed using tools developed by the Joanna-Briggs Institute, and the evidence was appraised using the GRADE approach. Synthesis without Meta-Analysis (SWiM) guidelines were used.

Results: Eighteen thousand six hundred twenty one records were screened, with 29 studies included across six outcome groups. Studies were mostly conducted in high-income countries (n = 16/25), in cooler climates. All studies were observational, with 17 cohort, 5 case-control and 8 cross-sectional studies. The timeline of the data is from 1913 to 2019, and individuals ranged in age from neonates to adults, and the elderly. Increasing heat exposure during pregnancy was associated with decreased earnings and lower educational attainment (n = 4/6), as well as worsened cardiovascular (n = 3/6), respiratory (n = 3/3), psychiatric (n = 7/12) and anthropometric (n = 2/2) outcomes, possibly culminating in increased overall mortality (n = 2/3). The effect on female infants was greater than on males in 8 of 9 studies differentiating by sex. The quality of evidence was low in respiratory and longevity outcome groups to very low in all others.

Conclusions: Increasing heat exposure was associated with a multitude of detrimental outcomes across diverse body systems. The biological pathways involved are yet to be elucidated, but could include epigenetic and developmental perturbations, through interactions with the placenta and inflammation. This highlights the need for further research into the long-term effects of heat exposure, biological pathways, and possible adaptation strategies in studies, particularly in neglected regions. Heat exposure in-utero has the potential to compound existing health and social inequalities. Poor study design of the included studies constrains the conclusions of this review, with heterogenous exposure measures and outcomes rendering comparisons across contexts/studies difficult.

Trial Registration: PROSPERO CRD 42019140136.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11069224PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12884-024-06512-0DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

heat exposure
32
exposure pregnancy
12
exposure
9
health social
8
effects heat
8
long-term effects
8
studies
8
included studies
8
outcome groups
8
increasing heat
8

Similar Publications

The association between anthropogenic heat and parent-report symptoms of childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in China: A novel perspective reflecting climate change.

Int J Hyg Environ Health

December 2024

Joint International Research Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Environmental Pollution and Health Risk Assessment, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, China. Electronic address:

Anthropogenic climate change will have a negative impact on worldwide well-being over and above the direct consequences of rising average temperatures. But anthropogenic heat (AH) relationship with childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is unknown. To assess the relationship with AH exposure and childhood ADHD symptoms in the context of global climate change, this study was conducted in a cross-sectional survey from April 2012 to May 2018 in the northeastern, northwestern, and southern regions of China, with a total enrollment of 179,846 children aged 6-18 years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Comparative analysis of thermoregulation models to assess heat strain in moderate to extreme heat.

J Therm Biol

December 2024

School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA; Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA. Electronic address:

As global temperatures rise due to climate change, the frequency and intensity of heatwaves are increasing, posing significant threats to human health, productivity, and well-being. Thermoregulation models are important tools for quantifying the risk of extreme heat, providing insights into physiological strain indicators such as core and skin temperatures, sweat rates, and thermal comfort levels. This study evaluated four thermoregulation models of varying complexity, differentiated by the geometry and underlying thermoregulatory mechanisms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Co-chaperones are key elements of cellular protein quality control. They cooperate with the major heat shock proteins Hsp70 and Hsp90 in folding proteins and preventing the toxic accumulation of misfolded proteins upon exposure to stress. Hsp90 interacts with the co-chaperone stress-inducible phosphoprotein 1 (Sti1/Stip1/Hop) and activator of Hsp90 ATPase protein 1 (Aha1) among many others.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The emulsification of silicone oil (SO) remains poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated the physical properties of unused pharmaceutical SO samples under various conditions. Moreover, clinical correlations with the patients' SO samples were assessed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Monitoring mortality is an essential strategy for fish health management. Commercial marine finfish sites in British Columbia, Canada, are required to report mortality events (MEs) to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), which makes these data publicly available. This study aimed to analyze the spatial and temporal patterns of ME composition and total MEs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!