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Years of repeated exposure to heat waves may accelerate aging, particularly among manual workers, rural residents and people from communities with fewer air conditioners, according to a study in Nature Climate Change.

Heat waves are increasing in frequency as a consequence of climate change and can have major impacts on public health. While previous studies have demonstrated the negative effects of heat waves on age-related health conditions, particularly among older people, they have primarily focused on short-term exposure to sustained heat. Understanding how sustained exposure to heat over the course of several years could help explain the potential long-term impact of heat waves on human aging.

Cui Guo and colleagues analyzed data from 24,922 adults, with an average biological age of 46.3 years, in Taiwan to assess how heat waves may influence aging. The authors define age acceleration as the difference between biological and chronological age and assessed its associations with heat wave exposure.

After analyzing data from physical examinations between 2008 and 2022, the authors found that with each interquartile range increase in the cumulative heat wave exposure—the difference between the third and the first quartile levels—there was an associated increase in age acceleration of 0.023–0.031 years.

Moreover, the study revealed that while participants appeared to adapt to heat wave conditions over the 15‑year period, the harmful health effects did not disappear. Guo and colleagues also identified that manual workers, rural residents and people from communities with fewer air conditioning units were more susceptible to the impacts of heat waves on aging.

The findings underscore the need for policies that reduce environmental inequalities and improve heat wave resilience, especially among vulnerable groups, guiding targeted protection and efficient health care resource allocation. The authors note that further analyses are needed in more diverse groups, and this analysis does not include potentially relevant variables such as time spent outdoors, household environment or usage habits of air conditioners.