Canadian Women Becomes the World’s First Patient Suffering From ‘Climate Change’
A Canadian woman may be the first person in the world to be diagnosed with ‘climate change.’ In British Columbia, Canada, the patient suffered from breathing problems, which physicians attribute to heatwaves and lousy air quality.
The patient is a senior citizen with asthma. Still, the consulting doctor, Dr. Kyle Merritt, said it was the first time in over ten years that he used the phrase “climate change” while writing up a patient’s diagnosis, according to the Times Colonist, a Canadian newspaper.
As per BC Wildfire Service Website, the Kootenays region in British Columbia province has witnessed over 1600 wildfires in this financial year. Recent wildfire in the Kootenays region has aggravated her Asthma, and she was struggling to breathe.
Dr. Kyle Merritt, who oversees the emergency room (ER) at Kootenay Lake Hospital, has seen multiple cases where the record heat has worsened pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes, heart failure, and so on. However, it is challenging to link mortality or severe disease to heatwaves or air pollution. According to the story, Dr. Merritt sought out other medical specialists in the neighboring provinces of Prince George, Kamloops, Vancouver, and Victoria to address the rising cases of heart disease, which he had only observed in medical school.
Since June, hundreds of people have lost their lives due to heatstroke, the highest recorded in Canada as Lytton in British Columbia was 49.6 degrees Celsius hot on June 29.
“If we’re not looking at the underlying cause, and we’re just treating the symptoms, we’re just gonna keep falling further and further behind.” Dr. Merritt answered when asked why he decided to make an unexpected diagnosis.
Further, he added to his statement, “It’s me trying to just… process what I’m seeing. We’re in the emergency department; we look after everybody, from the most privileged to the most vulnerable, from the cradle to the grave, we see everybody. And it’s hard to see people, especially the most vulnerable people in our society, being affected. It’s frustrating”.
Dr. Merritt, who made efforts to bring the healthcare workers together for planetary health, hopes that what he did would inspire and help other medical experts to link their patient’s health directly with climate change.
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