A Lancet Healthy Longevity comment identifies medication safety as a neglected dimension of climate risk in older adults. Extreme heat, power failure, displacement, and pharmaceutical supply-chain disruption compromise the ability to access, store, and safely use medicines, while age-related physiology, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy magnify the consequences. The authors position medication safety as a core component of climate adaptation for ageing populations.
Key Points
- Extreme heat interacts with common drugs to impair thermoregulation and hydration
- Polypharmacy, frailty, and cognitive impairment multiply climate-related medication harm
- Power loss and supply disruption compromise drug storage, access, and continuity
Longevity Analysis
Heat stress and pharmacology converge on the same control points: fluid balance, kidney clearance, blood pressure regulation, and the body's capacity to shed heat. Anticholinergics, diuretics, beta-blockers, and psychotropics each blunt one of these responses, so a drug regimen that is well tolerated at 20°C can become a source of interference at 38°C. Periodic deprescribing review, storage planning, and attention to early signals of dehydration or cognitive change represent low-cost adaptations with direct bearing on survival and functional independence in later decades.
Original published by The Lancet Healthy Longevity, by Ramesh Sharma Poudel, Shakti Shrestha, Santosh Thapa, Aayushka Baral, Jagadish K Chhetri, Meghnath Dhimal.