May 11, 2025 • 29 mins
05/11/25
The Healthy Matters Podcast
S04_E15 - Heat, Haze & How Climate Is Affecting Our Health
With Special Guest: Beth Stegora, PT, DPT
As global temperatures rise and extreme weather events become more frequent, it's not just our environment that’s feeling the impact—our bodies and communities are, too. Worsening air quality, heatwaves and supply chain disruptions are just some of the many ways climate change can have profound effects on both our physical and mental heath, making it an essential part of any conversation around public health.
But as always, knowledge is power and action is the antidote, so on the next episode of the show we'll be joined by Climate Health Ambassador, Beth Stegora (PT, DPT) and she'll help us get a better understanding of these effects and give us helpful ideas on how to stay healthy and how each of us can make a positive impact on our climate's health going forward. Since we all share this planet, we're all in this together, so there's something in this episode for everyone. We hope you'll join us!
We're open to your comments or ideas for future shows!
Email - healthymatters@hcmed.org
Call - 612-873-TALK (8255)
Get a preview of upcoming shows on social media and find out more about our show at www.healthymatters.org.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 00 (00:01):
Welcome to the Healthy Matters podcast with Dr.
David Hilden, primary carephysician and acute care
hospitalist at HennepinHealthcare in downtown
Minneapolis, where we cover thelatest in health, healthcare,
and what matters to you.
And now here's our host, Dr.
David Hilden.
Speaker 01 (00:19):
Hey everybody, welcome to episode 15.
It's Dr.
David Hilden, your host.
You know, as the seasonschange, many of us experience
changes to our health.
But something that has noseason is climate change, and
that too has an effect on yourhealth.
So today, we're going to talkto Dr.
Bess Stegora.
She is a climate healthambassador, and we're going to
(00:39):
talk about the effects ofclimate change on your physical
health and your mental health.
And in part two, we'll offeryou tips for staying healthy and
what you can do to make apositive impact on climate
change for a healthy future.
There's a lot to unpack here,so let's get right into it.
Beth, thanks for being here.
Welcome back to the podcast.
Speaker 03 (00:57):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 01 (00:57):
So first of all, tell us what a climate
ambassador is.
What do you do?
Speaker 03 (01:01):
Yeah, so I'm a healthcare provider by day, and
I've been seeing the impacts ofclimate change on our patient
population, and it caused me totake extra training in how
climate health impacts ourpatients and the specific
phenomenon.
So I've done some trainingnationally, globally, to learn
about It's
Speaker 01 (01:20):
just fascinating to me, your two roles, because
listeners, previously we did ashow on pelvic health and Dr.
Stegora talked to us about thattopic.
Today, climate change.
So we hear that word a lot.
What really does that mean?
What is climate change allabout?
Speaker 03 (01:35):
Yeah, so climate change is a term we hear all the
time.
And what it really means iswhen we burn fossil fuels such
as oil, gas in our homes, ourfactories, or how we transport
around, that releases greenhousegases, mostly carbon dioxide.
That carbon dioxide acts like ablanket trapping in heat close
to our Earth's surface.
(01:56):
That trapping of heat causesincreases in our planet's
temperatures.
Speaker 01 (02:01):
So we used to use the word global warming.
Is that what you're talkingabout?
Speaker 03 (02:04):
So overall, we've seen temperatures increasing,
especially since the 1940s, buteven more so in the last decade.
Our temperatures areexceedingly higher compared to
previous decades.
Speaker 01 (02:16):
How is climate not weather?
We had a cold winter.
It was 20 below zero there,Beth.
Speaker 03 (02:21):
Yeah, it was.
And we've also had one of thewarmer winters that we've ever
had as well.
So we are not I would love
Speaker 01 (02:34):
to talk about all of that.
It's such a fascinating topic.
Listeners, today we're going tofocus on the effects on your
health.
We're not going to talk aboutpolicies or all the other issues
around climate change, althoughI'd love to do that.
We're going to talk about theeffects on personal health.
What is the connection, Beth?
Speaker 03 (02:50):
When we look at climate change, it's helpful to
think about the phenomenon thathappened with climate change.
So those increases intemperature cause specific
weather events or phenomenonthat directly impact our health.
Phenomenon might includeexcessive heat, poor air
quality, more floods ordroughts, and changes in our
ecosystems, which would causemore widespread influences of
(03:13):
vector-borne illnesses.
Speaker 01 (03:14):
What's a vector?
Speaker 03 (03:15):
Vector-borne illness, as we're warming up,
we'll start to see changes inpests or insects that carry
disease.
So, for instance, in thenorthern hemisphere, we're
starting to see increases inLyme's disease, or we're
starting to see dengue feverstart to spread north these
pests can survive warmertemperatures.
Speaker 01 (03:35):
Or Zika virus, a mosquito-borne thing that is in
the southern part of the U.S.,the way southern part of the
U.S.
Maybe someday it's going tomove its way north, too, because
of climate change.
Is this a future problem?
Or are we talking about aproblem right now?
Or is this something that ourlisteners can rightfully say,
yeah, got it.
It's going to be a problem in150 years.
It's going to be a problem in300 years.
(03:57):
Can't worry about it.
Speaker 03 (03:58):
Yeah, I think we can all say that we...
have maybe seen some of thesephenomenon happening globally.
So it is a now problem.
I think the phenomenon thatwe're seeing most or most people
can relate to are excessiveheat waves and poor air quality.
And those things directlyimpact our health.
For example, when we haveincreased temperatures and heat
(04:19):
waves, that causes directlynegative impacts to our body's
ability to tolerate heat andprolonged exposures to heat.
The overall warming to ourplanet's temperatures also
causes changes in ourecosystems, creating longer
allergy seasons and changes inour vector-borne illnesses like
(04:39):
we talked about with Lyme'sdisease or dengue fever.
And when we have warmertemperatures, that directly
impacts our air quality.
So with climate change, thoseincreases in temperature cause
higher levels of evaporation andmore drought conditions.
When we're in droughtconditions, there are more air
particles in the air, we inhalethose air particles.
(05:00):
When there's drier conditions,we have more increases for
wildfires.
And then poor air quality isdirectly caused by increases in
temperature.
When we have our regular airpollution, which is more fine
particle air pollution, whenthat heats up, it causes ozone
pollution.
Both of those types ofpollution we inhale into our
lungs.
So poor air quality impacts ourrespiratory systems, our
(05:24):
cardiovascular systems, and ourmental health.
Speaker 01 (05:26):
You talked about different kinds of air
pollution.
I would like to delve into thatjust a teeny bit more.
Actually, yeah.
Speaker 03 (05:52):
That's a great point.
In Minnesota, we didn'ttypically have those types of
air quality alerts.
For example, in the lastdecade, we had one red air
quality alert, which is one ofthe highest ones per decade.
However, in 2023 alone, theMinnesota Pollution Control
Agency issued almost 14 redalerts just in one
Speaker 01 (06:13):
year.
I don't ever remember them, tobe honest.
Well, maybe I was just naive ornot aware when I was growing up
in Minnesota.
But now that seems like they'requite common.
Speaker 03 (06:22):
Just to put it into reference as well.
In 2023, we had 20 air qualityalerts in Minnesota covering 52
days of our entire year comparedto 2021 where we had about 42
days.
So that we are seeing anincrease.
It's not just you noticing, butthere is an increase.
Speaker 01 (06:39):
Okay.
So let's break it down intosome of these physical
conditions.
A little bit later, we're goingto talk about some mental
health and some kind of climateanxiety issues because that's a
thing too.
But let's talk about somephysical issues.
You've talked about respiratoryissues.
Let's break that down evenmore.
What is happening with climatechange air quality, and people's
breathing.
Speaker 03 (06:59):
So there are multiple causes of poor air
quality that we mentioned.
Wildfires, the air pollution,allergens that are going to be
here longer, and they're alldangerous to our bodies.
More specifically, we know thatthose larger air pollution
particles, such as the ozone,gets into our lungs.
So that can cause increases inour respiratory symptoms or
(07:20):
exacerbations of alreadyexisting respiratory conditions
like asthma or COPD.
And then those smaller airparticles actually can cross
into our bloodstream.
So folks that havecardiovascular disease are at
increased risk with airpollution.
And on a larger scale, what wenotice with poor air quality is
that it impacts a lot of things.
(07:41):
So when we have poor airquality or wildfires, our
emergency responders have to goto that area to respond and give
resources.
So that takes resources awayfrom other communities that
might need those resources.
And we even see that poorvisibility or poor air quality
impacts planes or transport tobring in medical supplies or
(08:02):
diabetic medications or thingslike that.
So we see large interruptionsto the medical supply chain too.
Speaker 01 (08:07):
I see it in my own clinic.
People with respiratoryillnesses, mostly asthma, COPD,
two of them that you mentioned.
Kids, although I don't seekids, they tell me about their
kids, are struggling when wehave these air quality days and
even some of the days when itisn't an official air quality
day.
It's rough on people's airwaysthat are already high Mm-hmm.
(08:29):
You mentioned that heat-relatedillnesses are a big deal, and
(08:50):
that's something that I've beenthinking about too.
Speaker 03 (08:53):
So heat is one of the more dangerous phenomenon
that we do see, and there aremultiple ways that excessive
heat can impact our body.
We have what we callheat-related illnesses, and so
those are things like heatstroke, heat exhaustion, heat
syncope, heat cramps, or heatrash from prolonged exposure or
even short-term exposure toheat.
Cardiovascular disease as apre-existing condition is the
(09:17):
primary cause of death duringheat waves.
So if you have cardiovasculardisease, you are at increased
risk of death when it's warmer.
And then we know thatrespiratory diseases, especially
COPD as a pre-existingcondition, is actually a
secondary cause of death duringheat waves.
So having those medical issuesAnd being exposed to heat can be
(09:39):
deadly.
Speaker 01 (09:40):
So we're in the clear here in the great state of
Minnesota in the frozen tundra.
Everybody thinks we're halffrozen up here anyway.
You know, I have friends fromaround the country.
They go, how do you like evensurvive?
Actually, cold related injuriesare not as prevalent as heat
related injuries relative toclimate change.
But we are up here in thenorthern tier of the country.
(10:00):
What about our winters andsummers and climate change
related things to people livingin in the bold north, as we like
to say.
Speaker 03 (10:07):
That's a really good point because we think that we
might be safe here.
So there is research that showsthat the most dangerous times
for exposure to heat are when wego from cold to hot.
And we notice that a lot now inthe northern hemispheres where
we have really short springs.
So the times for heat-relatedillnesses aren't actually August
(10:29):
or times that you might thinklike that.
It's actually May.
When we look at emergency roomencounters, it's early in the
season that our bodies haven'tgotten ready for that excessive
heat.
So slowly exposing your body toheat over time, they say it
takes almost up to two weeks toexpose your body to hot weather.
And that would apply toespecially our outdoor workers.
(10:51):
If you've had any time off ofwork or going back into the
season.
Speaker 01 (10:55):
Your body's half, you're used to the cold and then
you go out and it's 95 degreesand muggy outside or something
and you're not used to it.
Speaker 03 (11:01):
Yeah.
And I think another importantpopulation too that we have
specific data about in theMinneapolis Twin Cities area are
people who are pregnant.
And so there's been researchshowing that people who are
pregnant and exposed to heat inthe northern hemisphere here in
the Twin Cities area, they wereshown to have pregnancy
(11:21):
complications, adverse fetal andneonatal complications, preterm
birth, stillbirth, low birthweight, congenital anomalies,
preeclampsia, gestationaldiabetes, and emergency hospital
admissions during pregnancy.
The data also showed that womenof color who were pregnant had
even increased higher risks ofall of those health risks,
(11:43):
especially preterm birth.
Speaker 01 (11:44):
That's fascinating.
Is there a hypothesis about whyespecially pregnant women of
color, birth outcomes arewell-known, well-established to
be not as positive in women ofcolor?
It's one of the actually thethings that we ought to do
something about.
It's such a massive problem inour country that women of color
have worse birth outcomes.
(12:05):
But is there a thought aboutwhy some of these things might
affect women of color more?
Speaker 03 (12:09):
So in some of the research, they controlled for
variables like education, accessto health care, things like
that.
And even when you comparedpeople who had same educational
levels, the women of color werestill at higher risk for preterm
birth compared to white women.
And so you would hypothesizethat the impacts of systemic
(12:33):
racism are impacting those womenin a more despairing way.
Speaker 01 (12:37):
Yeah, you're exactly right.
Even if you control foreducation level or if you
control for income, where youlive and race do have higher
predictors of outcomes.
We need to do something aboutthat in our society.
And I think the first step isto say it.
Yes.
So thank you for bringing thatup.
Speaker 03 (12:56):
And that's what really got me into this work is
with pelvic health.
I'm working mostly with peoplewho are pregnant or postpartum.
I could see those impacts tothose people and wanted to do
something bigger.
And that pushed me into moreeducation and exploring this
realm.
Speaker 01 (13:10):
You have a fascinating career path.
I actually know Beth's careerpath a little bit because we've
worked together a little bit inthe past.
It's absolutely fascinating.
I just love what you do.
Before we move on to some ofthe mental health things, I want
to talk a little bit about foodand water access.
What are some of the issuesaround that?
Speaker 03 (13:25):
So with excessive heat and drought or flooding, so
we do see these more extremeweather patterns of downpours
where we don't actually absorbthe water.
Those changes in our petecosystems, all of those can
change our food production andaccess to food.
And the other way that itimpacts food is when we have
these severe weather alerts, ourability to access that food
(13:49):
supply chain will change too.
When there's a hurricane downsouth, we can't get resources
here or food that we mightnormally get.
We also can't get medicalsupplies that we may get, like
IV fluids.
Speaker 01 (14:01):
Fluids.
We ran out of salt water inmedical systems because of that
hurricane.
Speaker 03 (14:07):
Yeah.
So hurricanes and extremeweather really impact our
ability to function globally asa medical system.
Speaker 01 (14:15):
I've heard the term climate anxiety.
Is that a thing?
Speaker 03 (14:18):
It is a thing.
So climate anxiety is a morewell-known topic now.
And it can include feelings ofhelplessness, grief.
And then we noticed the mentalhealth impacts after extreme
(14:44):
weather events.
There's well-documented numbersof PTSD, depression, sleep
disruption after weather eventsor around wildfires, any of
those weather phenomena.
cause significant changes tomental health.
Speaker 01 (15:00):
These strike me as kind of normal reactions or at
least something easy tounderstand why people might be a
little bit nervous about that.
I can also see why youngerpeople might be.
Their whole lives are ahead ofthem.
Speaker 03 (15:11):
Right.
It should cause some alarm,right?
When we see things that areimpacting our health, it should
raise some awareness.
So those feelings are verycommon to have and people are
not alone in those feelings.
There are a lot of people outthere who are feeling climate
anxiety and feeling climategrief.
And when we surveyed ourcounty, the number one impact
(15:32):
that people, residents actuallyreplied of how they're impacted
by climate change is theirmental health.
Over 75% said that their mentalhealth was extremely impacted
by climate change.
Speaker 01 (15:43):
And it feels like, what do I do about it?
It doesn't feel, it feelssomewhat out of an individual's
control.
It does.
Especially when our worldwidediscourse is what it is now.
Things are polarizing andthings are or what to do about
it isn't really clear.
But what is happening isrelatively clear.
It's what we've been talkingabout so far.
(16:04):
We've been talking with Dr.
Bestagora.
She is a climate healthambassador, and she's an expert
on the impacts that climatechange has on your health.
So we've been talking about theproblem in this first half.
And after the break, I'd liketo talk about some specific
interventions for your own life.
Stay with us.
Speaker 02 (16:24):
When Hennepin Healthcare says, we're here for
life, they mean here for you,your life, and all that it
brings.
Hennepin Healthcare has ahospital, HCMC, a network of
clinics in the metro area, andan integrative health clinic in
downtown Minneapolis.
They provide all of the primaryand specialty care you'd expect
to find, as well as serviceslike acupuncture and
(16:46):
chiropractic care.
Learn more athennepinhealthcare.org.
Hennepin Healthcare is here foryou, and here for life.
Speaker 01 (16:54):
And we're back talking to Beth Stegora about
climate change and your health.
So Beth, What we did in thefirst half was talk about all
the causes and all the problems.
Now I want to leave people withsome things they can do.
So physical health for airquality.
(17:15):
Start with that.
Speaker 03 (17:16):
Yeah.
So there is a lot that we cando to respond to the changes
that have already happened.
And then there's also a lotthat we can do to help mitigate
and change some of the thingsthat have happened.
So we'll first talk about howwe can adapt to what's already
been happening.
So what poor air quality, it'sreally important to know your
(17:39):
air quality sensitivity.
So that could be thinking aboutyour medical conditions,
medications that you're on, andhaving a discussion with your
provider about what your airquality sensitivity is.
And then using the weather appsthat are out there and finding
a good one that works for youthat can tell you about the air
quality that's present.
There are really great appsthat exist now that can tell you
(18:00):
when is a good time to go for awalk?
When is it a good time to playpickleball?
When is it a good time to walkyour dog, all of those things.
So use those tools to help yoube out at times where there
isn't a lot of risk.
Speaker 01 (18:14):
So it'll tell you like hour by hour when's a good
time of day?
Or are you talking like thiswhole week I have to hibernate?
Speaker 03 (18:20):
So it'll actually tell you hour by hour.
So it will look at what thetemperature is.
It'll look at the particlelevels.
It'll look at the allergy andpollen that's in the air.
And then it'll give youcalculations.
One of the best times toactually be outside for poor
Poor air quality is right afterit rains.
So all of those air particlesare out of the air.
But checking your weather appis really, really important.
(18:43):
And then if we do have a poorair quality alert, trying to
limit yourself from beingoutside as much as possible.
And I know that that's notpossible for those who work
outside.
So when you are outside and youhave to exercise or work or
transport, making sure that youmaybe use a mask.
There are specific masks thatcan help to filter those
(19:04):
particles.
Masks that are designed to,that will say that they filter
ozone or PM 2.5 are great masks.
Speaker 01 (19:14):
Particulate matter, I'm going to guess is what PM
is.
Speaker 03 (19:16):
It is.
Yep.
So you'll look for PM 2.5.
Any of the masks that are ratedN95, KN95 or N99 are highly
recommended for outdooractivity.
Speaker 01 (19:26):
And you can buy these over the counter.
Speaker 03 (19:28):
Yeah.
And I think it's important tonote too that athletes are at
high risk for air quality andexcessive heat waves because of
their increased demand thatthey're taking into their body
of air.
Speaker 01 (19:40):
And we're not just talking about professional
athletes.
We're talking about you runnersand you people who are outdoors
exercise.
Speaker 03 (19:46):
Those eight-year-old soccer players that I know and
all those little ones.
Speaker 01 (19:51):
More on air quality, but I want to move us into our
houses.
I had a really good friend ofmine sort of chastise me for
having a gas stove.
Okay, so I want to talk aboutindoor air quality.
Speaker 03 (20:05):
So when you have to be outside and sometimes we do,
right?
And we're exposed to poor airquality.
The big thing you want to thinkabout is giving yourself some
break indoors.
So having clean air inside isreally important.
You can do that by using airpurifiers, having plants.
There are certain plants thatcan help pull air pollution out
(20:25):
of your home.
And you want to limit theindoor sources of air pollution.
Like
Speaker 01 (20:30):
my gas stove.
I love that gas stove.
But I've been told they havethese convection ones or
conduction ones that are good.
Speaker 03 (20:38):
Induction.
Induction.
Okay, thank you.
Yes, those are a lot better foryou.
And decreasing things likeburning candles, things like
that when you need to have yourwindows closed in our indoors.
Speaker 01 (20:49):
I have a wood-burning fireplace in my
house.
I'm going to take a wild stabthat that isn't great for indoor
air quality either.
Speaker 03 (20:55):
Correct.
It's not.
Speaker 01 (20:56):
All right.
All right.
So maybe open some windows.
But there are things you coulddo.
There are things you could do.
All joking aside, indoor airquality really does matter.
Speaker 03 (21:06):
It does.
Yeah.
Your body needs a break to havesome clean air.
And then on a big scale level,if we're thinking about how can
you contribute when there's poor
Speaker 01 (21:15):
air quality.
Yeah, I'd love you to tell ussome tips on that.
Speaker 03 (21:18):
So think about limiting your carbon output.
So maybe you don't drive towork that day.
but maybe we don't want you tobike because there's poor air
quality, but take publictransportation or work from
home, things like that.
So trying to limit your outputon those days is really
important to the overall airquality for everybody.
Speaker 01 (21:36):
People say what you individually do doesn't matter,
but it really does matter if amillion of you are all doing
that.
Speaker 03 (21:42):
Exactly.
Speaker 01 (21:42):
Let's move to excessive heat.
Speaker 03 (21:44):
Yeah, so excessive heat, again, is another
phenomenon that people, thereare a lot of things that you can
control with excessive heat andyour body's ability to tolerate
it.
Again, similar to poor airquality, it's knowing your heat
risk.
What are the factors such asyour medications, your
conditions that would limit yourbody's ability to adapt to
(22:05):
heat?
So even just being a kid orbeing a senior or being pregnant
or a person of color, all ofthose things are going to be
increased risk factors forincreased health risks during
heat waves.
And then when we start to seeincreases in heat, again, slowly
(22:26):
increasing your exposure toheat to let your body get used
to that, roughly taking abouttwo weeks to let your body get
adjusted.
Speaker 01 (22:33):
What if you can't?
You know, I know that's a hardquestion, but what if you're...
I see people, I don't know whyI thought of roofers at this
moment, but just one example ofsomeone who can't stay out of
the heat.
They're on top of a sunny roofworking hard and sweating and
out in the heat.
Speaker 03 (22:53):
That's a good point.
It's not...
just our physical orphysiological conditions that
increase our heat risk there'salso things like financial
reasons that people might bemore exposed to heat so if it is
hot out and you need that moneyas a roofer you may put your
body at risk to to work becauseyou need that money so there are
(23:15):
legal implications for peopleto be exposed to more heat there
are financial all kinds ofdifferent reasons why people
might be at increased risk forheat.
Speaker 01 (23:25):
So if I have to be outside for whatever reason,
whatever my reason is, and it'shot, are there things I can do
to stay safer?
Speaker 03 (23:32):
Yeah, so trying to get into shade and giving
yourself breaks is really,really important.
So that might be getting backinto your work truck or under
trees, things like that.
Any source of shade, it'stypically 15 degrees cooler in a
shady space.
Wow, I didn't know that.
Yeah, so plant some trees.
Get under a tree.
(23:53):
Get under a tree, create shade.
Wearing light-colored clothingis really helpful too.
It will help to not absorb theheat.
keeping hats on, use artificialshade if you need to with an
umbrella, things like that.
And then making sure to hydrateis really, really important to
prevent some of thoseheat-related illnesses.
You can carry a towel with youand keep that wet.
(24:15):
That will help to keep youcool.
And then knowing where some ofyour cooling centers are.
So if you live in a home or anapartment or are unhoused and
you don't have access to acooling center or air
conditioning, finding thoseplaces in your community where
you can get a break from the isreally important that your body,
even though it has had thatexposure, it needs to have that
(24:36):
break to really help to limityour risk.
Speaker 01 (24:39):
And looking out for your neighbors, I would think
might be something we should alldo a little bit more of.
Speaker 03 (24:44):
Yeah, I think as we think about climate change, it's
really going to take all of ourcommunities to become more
resilient.
And so make sure you take careof yourself and you're safe, but
then call that neighbor who maybe is on a limited budget
because they're a senior andmight be more apprehensive to
use their air conditioning ordoesn't have air conditioning.
(25:06):
So check on your neighbors.
People who have pets are lesslikely to seek cooling centers.
So there's just lots ofdifferent factors that might
limit your neighbors or lovedones from seeking Okay,
Speaker 01 (25:18):
so before I let you go, talk about that mental
health piece, that climateanxiety.
What are some tips for peoplewho might be experiencing that?
Speaker 03 (25:25):
Yeah, so luckily there's a lot more support and
research about climate anxiety.
The big solutions that theytalk about or most impactful
solutions are acknowledging thatyou're having those feelings,
that that is a response towhat's going on in our
environment.
noticing how impactful they areto your body and mind.
(25:47):
So if you're having anxietythat's really impacting your
function, please seek outprofessional help.
There are lots of great mentalhealth professionals out there
who are trained in eco-anxietyand can help to give you
guidance.
The other activities or thingsthat are highly suggested is to
find other people who arepassionate about those topics.
(26:09):
For instance, I am passionateabout trees and kids' health, so
I tend to do a lot of work withthose types of groups that are
planting trees or working onenvironmental health.
Find groups that have that samepassion and get active.
Use that anxiety and turn itinto action.
That can be one of our beststrengths.
Speaker 01 (26:29):
That is a great tip.
I just absolutely love thatbecause do you know what?
There are things we can do.
So today we learned thatclimate change isn't just an
environmental issue, which itis, but it's a health issue for
you and your communities.
We're all affected by that.
So a huge thank you to you,Beth, for joining us.
But are there any finalthoughts you'd like to leave our
(26:49):
listeners with?
Speaker 03 (26:50):
Yeah, I would love to say that there's some really
great work that's going on outthere.
The more active that I get inthis work, the more passionate
people I meet doing this work.
And so knowing that there isreally good momentum moving
forward is very hopeful.
So I think we're hopefullymoving in a really good
(27:12):
trajectory from people's passionand people on the ground doing
the hard work.
And climate resilience reallystarts with our own personal
resilience.
So it's important to take careof your own body, your own mind,
and then each other.
And there are ways that you canmake a really big difference.
So being aware of your owncarbon footprint in what you
(27:34):
buy, how you transport.
All of those things will helpto reduce the carbon released
into our atmosphere and help tomake our planet and ourselves
healthier.
Speaker 01 (27:43):
There are things that we can't control, starting
with how we take care ofourselves.
And I'm struck by that there ishope for change in the future.
Beth, could you tell us how yougot into this?
Speaker 03 (27:54):
Yeah, I would say I've always been a person very
in touch with nature, and I lovebeing out in nature.
And Over the last decade or sois when I started to really
notice these impacts of climatechange, and it caused my own
anxiety about climate change andsadness about it.
I have young children, and Ididn't want to feel paralyzed by
(28:17):
that anxiety or fear, and Iwanted to be able to tell my
kids that I've done everythingthat I can to try to help make
this planet a healthier planetso that they can take their kids
camping and swimming and do allthose things without having to
wear masks
Speaker 01 (28:34):
outside.
Wonderful.
Dr.
Bestigora, thank you for beinghere.
Speaker 03 (28:38):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 01 (28:39):
Listeners, I hope you've picked up some
information here.
And just remember that actionis the antidote.
I hope you'll join us in twoweeks' time when we drop another
episode.
And in the meantime, be healthyand be well.
Speaker 00 (28:52):
Thanks for listening to the Healthy Matters Podcast
with Dr.
David Hilden.
To find out more about theHealthy Matters Podcast or
browse the archive, visithealthymatters.org.
Got a question or a comment forthe show?
Email us at healthymatters athcmed.org or call 612-873-TALK.
There's also a link in the shownotes.
(29:13):
The Healthy Matters podcast ismade possible by Hennepin
Healthcare in Minneapolis,Minnesota, and engineered and
produced by John Lucas atHighball.
Executive producers areJonathan Comito and Christine
Hill.
Please remember, we can onlygive general medical advice
during this program, and everycase is unique.
We urge you to consult withyour physician if you have a
more serious or pressing healthconcern.
(29:35):
Until next time, be healthy andbe well.
Welcome to the Healthy Matters podcast with Dr.
David Hilden, primary carephysician and acute care
hospitalist at HennepinHealthcare in downtown
Minneapolis, where we cover thelatest in health, healthcare,
and what matters to you.
And now here's our host, Dr.
David Hilden.
Speaker 01 (00:19):
Hey everybody, welcome to episode 15.
It's Dr.
David Hilden, your host.
You know, as the seasonschange, many of us experience
changes to our health.
But something that has noseason is climate change, and
that too has an effect on yourhealth.
So today, we're going to talkto Dr.
Bess Stegora.
She is a climate healthambassador, and we're going to
(00:39):
talk about the effects ofclimate change on your physical
health and your mental health.
And in part two, we'll offeryou tips for staying healthy and
what you can do to make apositive impact on climate
change for a healthy future.
There's a lot to unpack here,so let's get right into it.
Beth, thanks for being here.
Welcome back to the podcast.
Speaker 03 (00:57):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 01 (00:57):
So first of all, tell us what a climate
ambassador is.
What do you do?
Speaker 03 (01:01):
Yeah, so I'm a healthcare provider by day, and
I've been seeing the impacts ofclimate change on our patient
population, and it caused me totake extra training in how
climate health impacts ourpatients and the specific
phenomenon.
So I've done some trainingnationally, globally, to learn
about It's
Speaker 01 (01:20):
just fascinating to me, your two roles, because
listeners, previously we did ashow on pelvic health and Dr.
Stegora talked to us about thattopic.
Today, climate change.
So we hear that word a lot.
What really does that mean?
What is climate change allabout?
Speaker 03 (01:35):
Yeah, so climate change is a term we hear all the
time.
And what it really means iswhen we burn fossil fuels such
as oil, gas in our homes, ourfactories, or how we transport
around, that releases greenhousegases, mostly carbon dioxide.
That carbon dioxide acts like ablanket trapping in heat close
to our Earth's surface.
(01:56):
That trapping of heat causesincreases in our planet's
temperatures.
Speaker 01 (02:01):
So we used to use the word global warming.
Is that what you're talkingabout?
Speaker 03 (02:04):
So overall, we've seen temperatures increasing,
especially since the 1940s, buteven more so in the last decade.
Our temperatures areexceedingly higher compared to
previous decades.
Speaker 01 (02:16):
How is climate not weather?
We had a cold winter.
It was 20 below zero there,Beth.
Speaker 03 (02:21):
Yeah, it was.
And we've also had one of thewarmer winters that we've ever
had as well.
So we are not I would love
Speaker 01 (02:34):
to talk about all of that.
It's such a fascinating topic.
Listeners, today we're going tofocus on the effects on your
health.
We're not going to talk aboutpolicies or all the other issues
around climate change, althoughI'd love to do that.
We're going to talk about theeffects on personal health.
What is the connection, Beth?
Speaker 03 (02:50):
When we look at climate change, it's helpful to
think about the phenomenon thathappened with climate change.
So those increases intemperature cause specific
weather events or phenomenonthat directly impact our health.
Phenomenon might includeexcessive heat, poor air
quality, more floods ordroughts, and changes in our
ecosystems, which would causemore widespread influences of
(03:13):
vector-borne illnesses.
Speaker 01 (03:14):
What's a vector?
Speaker 03 (03:15):
Vector-borne illness, as we're warming up,
we'll start to see changes inpests or insects that carry
disease.
So, for instance, in thenorthern hemisphere, we're
starting to see increases inLyme's disease, or we're
starting to see dengue feverstart to spread north these
pests can survive warmertemperatures.
Speaker 01 (03:35):
Or Zika virus, a mosquito-borne thing that is in
the southern part of the U.S.,the way southern part of the
U.S.
Maybe someday it's going tomove its way north, too, because
of climate change.
Is this a future problem?
Or are we talking about aproblem right now?
Or is this something that ourlisteners can rightfully say,
yeah, got it.
It's going to be a problem in150 years.
It's going to be a problem in300 years.
(03:57):
Can't worry about it.
Speaker 03 (03:58):
Yeah, I think we can all say that we...
have maybe seen some of thesephenomenon happening globally.
So it is a now problem.
I think the phenomenon thatwe're seeing most or most people
can relate to are excessiveheat waves and poor air quality.
And those things directlyimpact our health.
For example, when we haveincreased temperatures and heat
(04:19):
waves, that causes directlynegative impacts to our body's
ability to tolerate heat andprolonged exposures to heat.
The overall warming to ourplanet's temperatures also
causes changes in ourecosystems, creating longer
allergy seasons and changes inour vector-borne illnesses like
(04:39):
we talked about with Lyme'sdisease or dengue fever.
And when we have warmertemperatures, that directly
impacts our air quality.
So with climate change, thoseincreases in temperature cause
higher levels of evaporation andmore drought conditions.
When we're in droughtconditions, there are more air
particles in the air, we inhalethose air particles.
(05:00):
When there's drier conditions,we have more increases for
wildfires.
And then poor air quality isdirectly caused by increases in
temperature.
When we have our regular airpollution, which is more fine
particle air pollution, whenthat heats up, it causes ozone
pollution.
Both of those types ofpollution we inhale into our
lungs.
So poor air quality impacts ourrespiratory systems, our
(05:24):
cardiovascular systems, and ourmental health.
Speaker 01 (05:26):
You talked about different kinds of air
pollution.
I would like to delve into thatjust a teeny bit more.
Actually, yeah.
Speaker 03 (05:52):
That's a great point.
In Minnesota, we didn'ttypically have those types of
air quality alerts.
For example, in the lastdecade, we had one red air
quality alert, which is one ofthe highest ones per decade.
However, in 2023 alone, theMinnesota Pollution Control
Agency issued almost 14 redalerts just in one
Speaker 01 (06:13):
year.
I don't ever remember them, tobe honest.
Well, maybe I was just naive ornot aware when I was growing up
in Minnesota.
But now that seems like they'requite common.
Speaker 03 (06:22):
Just to put it into reference as well.
In 2023, we had 20 air qualityalerts in Minnesota covering 52
days of our entire year comparedto 2021 where we had about 42
days.
So that we are seeing anincrease.
It's not just you noticing, butthere is an increase.
Speaker 01 (06:39):
Okay.
So let's break it down intosome of these physical
conditions.
A little bit later, we're goingto talk about some mental
health and some kind of climateanxiety issues because that's a
thing too.
But let's talk about somephysical issues.
You've talked about respiratoryissues.
Let's break that down evenmore.
What is happening with climatechange air quality, and people's
breathing.
Speaker 03 (06:59):
So there are multiple causes of poor air
quality that we mentioned.
Wildfires, the air pollution,allergens that are going to be
here longer, and they're alldangerous to our bodies.
More specifically, we know thatthose larger air pollution
particles, such as the ozone,gets into our lungs.
So that can cause increases inour respiratory symptoms or
(07:20):
exacerbations of alreadyexisting respiratory conditions
like asthma or COPD.
And then those smaller airparticles actually can cross
into our bloodstream.
So folks that havecardiovascular disease are at
increased risk with airpollution.
And on a larger scale, what wenotice with poor air quality is
that it impacts a lot of things.
(07:41):
So when we have poor airquality or wildfires, our
emergency responders have to goto that area to respond and give
resources.
So that takes resources awayfrom other communities that
might need those resources.
And we even see that poorvisibility or poor air quality
impacts planes or transport tobring in medical supplies or
(08:02):
diabetic medications or thingslike that.
So we see large interruptionsto the medical supply chain too.
Speaker 01 (08:07):
I see it in my own clinic.
People with respiratoryillnesses, mostly asthma, COPD,
two of them that you mentioned.
Kids, although I don't seekids, they tell me about their
kids, are struggling when wehave these air quality days and
even some of the days when itisn't an official air quality
day.
It's rough on people's airwaysthat are already high Mm-hmm.
(08:29):
You mentioned that heat-relatedillnesses are a big deal, and
(08:50):
that's something that I've beenthinking about too.
Speaker 03 (08:53):
So heat is one of the more dangerous phenomenon
that we do see, and there aremultiple ways that excessive
heat can impact our body.
We have what we callheat-related illnesses, and so
those are things like heatstroke, heat exhaustion, heat
syncope, heat cramps, or heatrash from prolonged exposure or
even short-term exposure toheat.
Cardiovascular disease as apre-existing condition is the
(09:17):
primary cause of death duringheat waves.
So if you have cardiovasculardisease, you are at increased
risk of death when it's warmer.
And then we know thatrespiratory diseases, especially
COPD as a pre-existingcondition, is actually a
secondary cause of death duringheat waves.
So having those medical issuesAnd being exposed to heat can be
(09:39):
deadly.
Speaker 01 (09:40):
So we're in the clear here in the great state of
Minnesota in the frozen tundra.
Everybody thinks we're halffrozen up here anyway.
You know, I have friends fromaround the country.
They go, how do you like evensurvive?
Actually, cold related injuriesare not as prevalent as heat
related injuries relative toclimate change.
But we are up here in thenorthern tier of the country.
(10:00):
What about our winters andsummers and climate change
related things to people livingin in the bold north, as we like
to say.
Speaker 03 (10:07):
That's a really good point because we think that we
might be safe here.
So there is research that showsthat the most dangerous times
for exposure to heat are when wego from cold to hot.
And we notice that a lot now inthe northern hemispheres where
we have really short springs.
So the times for heat-relatedillnesses aren't actually August
(10:29):
or times that you might thinklike that.
It's actually May.
When we look at emergency roomencounters, it's early in the
season that our bodies haven'tgotten ready for that excessive
heat.
So slowly exposing your body toheat over time, they say it
takes almost up to two weeks toexpose your body to hot weather.
And that would apply toespecially our outdoor workers.
(10:51):
If you've had any time off ofwork or going back into the
season.
Speaker 01 (10:55):
Your body's half, you're used to the cold and then
you go out and it's 95 degreesand muggy outside or something
and you're not used to it.
Speaker 03 (11:01):
Yeah.
And I think another importantpopulation too that we have
specific data about in theMinneapolis Twin Cities area are
people who are pregnant.
And so there's been researchshowing that people who are
pregnant and exposed to heat inthe northern hemisphere here in
the Twin Cities area, they wereshown to have pregnancy
(11:21):
complications, adverse fetal andneonatal complications, preterm
birth, stillbirth, low birthweight, congenital anomalies,
preeclampsia, gestationaldiabetes, and emergency hospital
admissions during pregnancy.
The data also showed that womenof color who were pregnant had
even increased higher risks ofall of those health risks,
(11:43):
especially preterm birth.
Speaker 01 (11:44):
That's fascinating.
Is there a hypothesis about whyespecially pregnant women of
color, birth outcomes arewell-known, well-established to
be not as positive in women ofcolor?
It's one of the actually thethings that we ought to do
something about.
It's such a massive problem inour country that women of color
have worse birth outcomes.
(12:05):
But is there a thought aboutwhy some of these things might
affect women of color more?
Speaker 03 (12:09):
So in some of the research, they controlled for
variables like education, accessto health care, things like
that.
And even when you comparedpeople who had same educational
levels, the women of color werestill at higher risk for preterm
birth compared to white women.
And so you would hypothesizethat the impacts of systemic
(12:33):
racism are impacting those womenin a more despairing way.
Speaker 01 (12:37):
Yeah, you're exactly right.
Even if you control foreducation level or if you
control for income, where youlive and race do have higher
predictors of outcomes.
We need to do something aboutthat in our society.
And I think the first step isto say it.
Yes.
So thank you for bringing thatup.
Speaker 03 (12:56):
And that's what really got me into this work is
with pelvic health.
I'm working mostly with peoplewho are pregnant or postpartum.
I could see those impacts tothose people and wanted to do
something bigger.
And that pushed me into moreeducation and exploring this
realm.
Speaker 01 (13:10):
You have a fascinating career path.
I actually know Beth's careerpath a little bit because we've
worked together a little bit inthe past.
It's absolutely fascinating.
I just love what you do.
Before we move on to some ofthe mental health things, I want
to talk a little bit about foodand water access.
What are some of the issuesaround that?
Speaker 03 (13:25):
So with excessive heat and drought or flooding, so
we do see these more extremeweather patterns of downpours
where we don't actually absorbthe water.
Those changes in our petecosystems, all of those can
change our food production andaccess to food.
And the other way that itimpacts food is when we have
these severe weather alerts, ourability to access that food
(13:49):
supply chain will change too.
When there's a hurricane downsouth, we can't get resources
here or food that we mightnormally get.
We also can't get medicalsupplies that we may get, like
IV fluids.
Speaker 01 (14:01):
Fluids.
We ran out of salt water inmedical systems because of that
hurricane.
Speaker 03 (14:07):
Yeah.
So hurricanes and extremeweather really impact our
ability to function globally asa medical system.
Speaker 01 (14:15):
I've heard the term climate anxiety.
Is that a thing?
Speaker 03 (14:18):
It is a thing.
So climate anxiety is a morewell-known topic now.
And it can include feelings ofhelplessness, grief.
And then we noticed the mentalhealth impacts after extreme
(14:44):
weather events.
There's well-documented numbersof PTSD, depression, sleep
disruption after weather eventsor around wildfires, any of
those weather phenomena.
cause significant changes tomental health.
Speaker 01 (15:00):
These strike me as kind of normal reactions or at
least something easy tounderstand why people might be a
little bit nervous about that.
I can also see why youngerpeople might be.
Their whole lives are ahead ofthem.
Speaker 03 (15:11):
Right.
It should cause some alarm,right?
When we see things that areimpacting our health, it should
raise some awareness.
So those feelings are verycommon to have and people are
not alone in those feelings.
There are a lot of people outthere who are feeling climate
anxiety and feeling climategrief.
And when we surveyed ourcounty, the number one impact
(15:32):
that people, residents actuallyreplied of how they're impacted
by climate change is theirmental health.
Over 75% said that their mentalhealth was extremely impacted
by climate change.
Speaker 01 (15:43):
And it feels like, what do I do about it?
It doesn't feel, it feelssomewhat out of an individual's
control.
It does.
Especially when our worldwidediscourse is what it is now.
Things are polarizing andthings are or what to do about
it isn't really clear.
But what is happening isrelatively clear.
It's what we've been talkingabout so far.
(16:04):
We've been talking with Dr.
Bestagora.
She is a climate healthambassador, and she's an expert
on the impacts that climatechange has on your health.
So we've been talking about theproblem in this first half.
And after the break, I'd liketo talk about some specific
interventions for your own life.
Stay with us.
Speaker 02 (16:24):
When Hennepin Healthcare says, we're here for
life, they mean here for you,your life, and all that it
brings.
Hennepin Healthcare has ahospital, HCMC, a network of
clinics in the metro area, andan integrative health clinic in
downtown Minneapolis.
They provide all of the primaryand specialty care you'd expect
to find, as well as serviceslike acupuncture and
(16:46):
chiropractic care.
Learn more athennepinhealthcare.org.
Hennepin Healthcare is here foryou, and here for life.
Speaker 01 (16:54):
And we're back talking to Beth Stegora about
climate change and your health.
So Beth, What we did in thefirst half was talk about all
the causes and all the problems.
Now I want to leave people withsome things they can do.
So physical health for airquality.
(17:15):
Start with that.
Speaker 03 (17:16):
Yeah.
So there is a lot that we cando to respond to the changes
that have already happened.
And then there's also a lotthat we can do to help mitigate
and change some of the thingsthat have happened.
So we'll first talk about howwe can adapt to what's already
been happening.
So what poor air quality, it'sreally important to know your
(17:39):
air quality sensitivity.
So that could be thinking aboutyour medical conditions,
medications that you're on, andhaving a discussion with your
provider about what your airquality sensitivity is.
And then using the weather appsthat are out there and finding
a good one that works for youthat can tell you about the air
quality that's present.
There are really great appsthat exist now that can tell you
(18:00):
when is a good time to go for awalk?
When is it a good time to playpickleball?
When is it a good time to walkyour dog, all of those things.
So use those tools to help yoube out at times where there
isn't a lot of risk.
Speaker 01 (18:14):
So it'll tell you like hour by hour when's a good
time of day?
Or are you talking like thiswhole week I have to hibernate?
Speaker 03 (18:20):
So it'll actually tell you hour by hour.
So it will look at what thetemperature is.
It'll look at the particlelevels.
It'll look at the allergy andpollen that's in the air.
And then it'll give youcalculations.
One of the best times toactually be outside for poor
Poor air quality is right afterit rains.
So all of those air particlesare out of the air.
But checking your weather appis really, really important.
(18:43):
And then if we do have a poorair quality alert, trying to
limit yourself from beingoutside as much as possible.
And I know that that's notpossible for those who work
outside.
So when you are outside and youhave to exercise or work or
transport, making sure that youmaybe use a mask.
There are specific masks thatcan help to filter those
(19:04):
particles.
Masks that are designed to,that will say that they filter
ozone or PM 2.5 are great masks.
Speaker 01 (19:14):
Particulate matter, I'm going to guess is what PM
is.
Speaker 03 (19:16):
It is.
Yep.
So you'll look for PM 2.5.
Any of the masks that are ratedN95, KN95 or N99 are highly
recommended for outdooractivity.
Speaker 01 (19:26):
And you can buy these over the counter.
Speaker 03 (19:28):
Yeah.
And I think it's important tonote too that athletes are at
high risk for air quality andexcessive heat waves because of
their increased demand thatthey're taking into their body
of air.
Speaker 01 (19:40):
And we're not just talking about professional
athletes.
We're talking about you runnersand you people who are outdoors
exercise.
Speaker 03 (19:46):
Those eight-year-old soccer players that I know and
all those little ones.
Speaker 01 (19:51):
More on air quality, but I want to move us into our
houses.
I had a really good friend ofmine sort of chastise me for
having a gas stove.
Okay, so I want to talk aboutindoor air quality.
Speaker 03 (20:05):
So when you have to be outside and sometimes we do,
right?
And we're exposed to poor airquality.
The big thing you want to thinkabout is giving yourself some
break indoors.
So having clean air inside isreally important.
You can do that by using airpurifiers, having plants.
There are certain plants thatcan help pull air pollution out
(20:25):
of your home.
And you want to limit theindoor sources of air pollution.
Like
Speaker 01 (20:30):
my gas stove.
I love that gas stove.
But I've been told they havethese convection ones or
conduction ones that are good.
Speaker 03 (20:38):
Induction.
Induction.
Okay, thank you.
Yes, those are a lot better foryou.
And decreasing things likeburning candles, things like
that when you need to have yourwindows closed in our indoors.
Speaker 01 (20:49):
I have a wood-burning fireplace in my
house.
I'm going to take a wild stabthat that isn't great for indoor
air quality either.
Speaker 03 (20:55):
Correct.
It's not.
Speaker 01 (20:56):
All right.
All right.
So maybe open some windows.
But there are things you coulddo.
There are things you could do.
All joking aside, indoor airquality really does matter.
Speaker 03 (21:06):
It does.
Yeah.
Your body needs a break to havesome clean air.
And then on a big scale level,if we're thinking about how can
you contribute when there's poor
Speaker 01 (21:15):
air quality.
Yeah, I'd love you to tell ussome tips on that.
Speaker 03 (21:18):
So think about limiting your carbon output.
So maybe you don't drive towork that day.
but maybe we don't want you tobike because there's poor air
quality, but take publictransportation or work from
home, things like that.
So trying to limit your outputon those days is really
important to the overall airquality for everybody.
Speaker 01 (21:36):
People say what you individually do doesn't matter,
but it really does matter if amillion of you are all doing
that.
Speaker 03 (21:42):
Exactly.
Speaker 01 (21:42):
Let's move to excessive heat.
Speaker 03 (21:44):
Yeah, so excessive heat, again, is another
phenomenon that people, thereare a lot of things that you can
control with excessive heat andyour body's ability to tolerate
it.
Again, similar to poor airquality, it's knowing your heat
risk.
What are the factors such asyour medications, your
conditions that would limit yourbody's ability to adapt to
(22:05):
heat?
So even just being a kid orbeing a senior or being pregnant
or a person of color, all ofthose things are going to be
increased risk factors forincreased health risks during
heat waves.
And then when we start to seeincreases in heat, again, slowly
(22:26):
increasing your exposure toheat to let your body get used
to that, roughly taking abouttwo weeks to let your body get
adjusted.
Speaker 01 (22:33):
What if you can't?
You know, I know that's a hardquestion, but what if you're...
I see people, I don't know whyI thought of roofers at this
moment, but just one example ofsomeone who can't stay out of
the heat.
They're on top of a sunny roofworking hard and sweating and
out in the heat.
Speaker 03 (22:53):
That's a good point.
It's not...
just our physical orphysiological conditions that
increase our heat risk there'salso things like financial
reasons that people might bemore exposed to heat so if it is
hot out and you need that moneyas a roofer you may put your
body at risk to to work becauseyou need that money so there are
(23:15):
legal implications for peopleto be exposed to more heat there
are financial all kinds ofdifferent reasons why people
might be at increased risk forheat.
Speaker 01 (23:25):
So if I have to be outside for whatever reason,
whatever my reason is, and it'shot, are there things I can do
to stay safer?
Speaker 03 (23:32):
Yeah, so trying to get into shade and giving
yourself breaks is really,really important.
So that might be getting backinto your work truck or under
trees, things like that.
Any source of shade, it'stypically 15 degrees cooler in a
shady space.
Wow, I didn't know that.
Yeah, so plant some trees.
Get under a tree.
(23:53):
Get under a tree, create shade.
Wearing light-colored clothingis really helpful too.
It will help to not absorb theheat.
keeping hats on, use artificialshade if you need to with an
umbrella, things like that.
And then making sure to hydrateis really, really important to
prevent some of thoseheat-related illnesses.
You can carry a towel with youand keep that wet.
(24:15):
That will help to keep youcool.
And then knowing where some ofyour cooling centers are.
So if you live in a home or anapartment or are unhoused and
you don't have access to acooling center or air
conditioning, finding thoseplaces in your community where
you can get a break from the isreally important that your body,
even though it has had thatexposure, it needs to have that
(24:36):
break to really help to limityour risk.
Speaker 01 (24:39):
And looking out for your neighbors, I would think
might be something we should alldo a little bit more of.
Speaker 03 (24:44):
Yeah, I think as we think about climate change, it's
really going to take all of ourcommunities to become more
resilient.
And so make sure you take careof yourself and you're safe, but
then call that neighbor who maybe is on a limited budget
because they're a senior andmight be more apprehensive to
use their air conditioning ordoesn't have air conditioning.
(25:06):
So check on your neighbors.
People who have pets are lesslikely to seek cooling centers.
So there's just lots ofdifferent factors that might
limit your neighbors or lovedones from seeking Okay,
Speaker 01 (25:18):
so before I let you go, talk about that mental
health piece, that climateanxiety.
What are some tips for peoplewho might be experiencing that?
Speaker 03 (25:25):
Yeah, so luckily there's a lot more support and
research about climate anxiety.
The big solutions that theytalk about or most impactful
solutions are acknowledging thatyou're having those feelings,
that that is a response towhat's going on in our
environment.
noticing how impactful they areto your body and mind.
(25:47):
So if you're having anxietythat's really impacting your
function, please seek outprofessional help.
There are lots of great mentalhealth professionals out there
who are trained in eco-anxietyand can help to give you
guidance.
The other activities or thingsthat are highly suggested is to
find other people who arepassionate about those topics.
(26:09):
For instance, I am passionateabout trees and kids' health, so
I tend to do a lot of work withthose types of groups that are
planting trees or working onenvironmental health.
Find groups that have that samepassion and get active.
Use that anxiety and turn itinto action.
That can be one of our beststrengths.
Speaker 01 (26:29):
That is a great tip.
I just absolutely love thatbecause do you know what?
There are things we can do.
So today we learned thatclimate change isn't just an
environmental issue, which itis, but it's a health issue for
you and your communities.
We're all affected by that.
So a huge thank you to you,Beth, for joining us.
But are there any finalthoughts you'd like to leave our
(26:49):
listeners with?
Speaker 03 (26:50):
Yeah, I would love to say that there's some really
great work that's going on outthere.
The more active that I get inthis work, the more passionate
people I meet doing this work.
And so knowing that there isreally good momentum moving
forward is very hopeful.
So I think we're hopefullymoving in a really good
(27:12):
trajectory from people's passionand people on the ground doing
the hard work.
And climate resilience reallystarts with our own personal
resilience.
So it's important to take careof your own body, your own mind,
and then each other.
And there are ways that you canmake a really big difference.
So being aware of your owncarbon footprint in what you
(27:34):
buy, how you transport.
All of those things will helpto reduce the carbon released
into our atmosphere and help tomake our planet and ourselves
healthier.
Speaker 01 (27:43):
There are things that we can't control, starting
with how we take care ofourselves.
And I'm struck by that there ishope for change in the future.
Beth, could you tell us how yougot into this?
Speaker 03 (27:54):
Yeah, I would say I've always been a person very
in touch with nature, and I lovebeing out in nature.
And Over the last decade or sois when I started to really
notice these impacts of climatechange, and it caused my own
anxiety about climate change andsadness about it.
I have young children, and Ididn't want to feel paralyzed by
(28:17):
that anxiety or fear, and Iwanted to be able to tell my
kids that I've done everythingthat I can to try to help make
this planet a healthier planetso that they can take their kids
camping and swimming and do allthose things without having to
wear masks
Speaker 01 (28:34):
outside.
Wonderful.
Dr.
Bestigora, thank you for beinghere.
Speaker 03 (28:38):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 01 (28:39):
Listeners, I hope you've picked up some
information here.
And just remember that actionis the antidote.
I hope you'll join us in twoweeks' time when we drop another
episode.
And in the meantime, be healthyand be well.
Speaker 00 (28:52):
Thanks for listening to the Healthy Matters Podcast
with Dr.
David Hilden.
To find out more about theHealthy Matters Podcast or
browse the archive, visithealthymatters.org.
Got a question or a comment forthe show?
Email us at healthymatters athcmed.org or call 612-873-TALK.
There's also a link in the shownotes.
(29:13):
The Healthy Matters podcast ismade possible by Hennepin
Healthcare in Minneapolis,Minnesota, and engineered and
produced by John Lucas atHighball.
Executive producers areJonathan Comito and Christine
Hill.
Please remember, we can onlygive general medical advice
during this program, and everycase is unique.
We urge you to consult withyour physician if you have a
more serious or pressing healthconcern.
(29:35):
Until next time, be healthy andbe well.
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