Neurology in a Changing Climate: A Scoping Review

Abstract

ImportanceAlthough the international community collectively seeks to reduce global temperature rise to less than 1.5ºC, there are already irreversible environmental changes that have occurred, and currently available evidence suggests these changes will continue to occur. As we begin to witness the effects of a warming planet on human health, it is imperative that as neurologists we anticipate the ways in which the epidemiology and incidence of neurologic disease may be affected.ObjectiveIn this review, we organize our analysis around three key themes related to climate change and neurologic health: extreme weather events and temperature fluctuations, emerging neuro-infectious diseases, and pollutant impacts. Across each of these key themes, we appraise and review recent literature relevant to neurological disease and the practice of neurology.Evidence ReviewStudies were identified using a set of relevant search terms relating to climate change and neurologic diseases in the PubMed repository for publications between 1990 and 2021. Studies were included if they pertained to human incidence or prevalence of disease, were in the English language, and were relevant to neurologic disease.FindingsWe identified a total of 136 articles, grouped into the three key themes of our study; extreme weather events and temperature fluctuations (23 studies), emerging neuro-infectious diseases (42 studies), and pollutant impacts (71 studies). Broadly, the studies included highlighted the relationships between neurologic symptom exacerbation and temperature variability, tick-borne infections and warming climates, and airborne pollutants and cerebrovascular disease incidence and severity.Conclusions and RelevanceOur work highlights three key priorities for further work; namely, neuro-infectious disease risk mitigation, an understanding of the pathophysiology of airborne pollutants on the nervous system, and research into how to improve delivery of neurologic care in the face of climate-related disruptions.Key PointsQuestionHow does climate change impact neurological disease?Findings136 articles were identified relating neurologic disease to climate change. Articles were grouped into three key themes, highlighting evidence linking neurologic disease exacerbation to temperature fluctuation, tick-borne infections with climate change, and airborne pollutants to cerebrovascular disease.MeaningA substantial body of literature suggests that neurologic disease incidence, morbidity, and mortality is directly impacted by climate change and its sequelae, but much remains to be uncovered.