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In this period of heat wave, the high temperatures and the risk of death weigh more heavily on the most fragile. What if there was also a difference between men and women? This hypothesis has recently been put forward by researchers.
Health authorities recommend that children and the most fragile, such as people suffering from a chronic pathology, protect themselves against intense heat. But according to recent studies, women are also more at risk than men in the face of high heat.
Older women more at risk from heat waves
In 2018, Dutch researchers analyzed various studies relating to more than sixty studies on high heat, such as the 2003 heat wave in France.
They write in their conclusions that one “notes that during this heat wave the mortality rate among women was on average 15% higher than among men“. Same conclusion in a 2021 study, which finds that the gap between the number of male and female deaths increases with age, especially after 65 years.
A less good cooling of the body?
Scientists do not give a clear explanation capable of explaining this inequality, which particularly affects older women.
One of the hypotheses put forward would be the poorest perspiration in women, due to their small size. “The evapotranspiration is a phenomenon proportional to the cutaneous surface, it is the key to the cooling of our organism” recalls Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo.
“As women have a smaller body surface area, this is the most likely explanation for their difficulty cooling down.” adds the doctor.
Consult a dermatologist online
No clear explanation yet
Sweating is also a phenomenon that tends to decrease with age, with the feeling of thirst.
Scientists also mention behavioral and societal elements, such as the isolation of elderly people who live alone or the difficulty of accessing public toilets outdoors. This is the case in Asia, for example, and researchers believe that this may cause women to drink less than men.
So many hypotheses that are added to the previous elements, without any indisputable explanation being advanced for the moment to explain this difference.