WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A new study from Cedars-Sinai found that many more people than usual suffered from heart attacks, lung problems, and general illnesses in the three months after the January 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles. Notably, these health problems showed up within 90 days of the fires starting, suggesting that the fires quickly affected people's health living in that area.
To study the impact of fire on health, researchers reviewed emergency room visits from January 7 to April 7, 2025, and compared them with records from the same period between 2018 and 2024.
Overall, the total number of emergency room visits stayed about the same as in previous years. However, visits for certain health conditions increased sharply.
Meanwhile, cases labeled as general illness rose by 118 percent compared with the seven-year average. Emergency visits for heart attacks increased by 46 percent, and visits for lung-related illnesses went up by 24 percent.
'Fine particles released by wildfires can enter the body and cause injury, particularly to the heart and lungs,' explained senior author Susan Cheng. 'Stress related to the fires may also contribute to a broad range of health issues.'
The study also found that abnormal blood test results linked to general illness more than doubled during these 90 days compared with earlier years.
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