A Canadian facing breathing issues was diagnosed as possibly the first patient in the world suffering from “climate change,” as doctors said heatwaves and poor air quality were responsible for his condition.
Dr Kyle Merritt, responsible for the diagnosis of the senior citizen from Nelson in British Columbia who suffered from asthma, said this was the first time in a decade that he wrote climate change as a cause of suffering.
“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,” the emergency room doctor told the Glacier Media.
“It’s me trying to just… process what I’m seeing,” he adds. Canada has suffered from a historic heatwave this year in June, followed by a thick smog season triggered by wildfires.
British Columbia, the westernmost province of Canada, crossed record-breaking temperatures in June, which is believed to have killed 500 people. The wildfire caused the air quality to become 43 times worse than levels acceptable as safe throughout July and August.
“We’re in the emergency department, we look after everybody, from the most privileged to the most vulnerable, from cradle to 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 told the outlet.
The patient, who was in her 70s, was diagnosed in the summer soon after the heatwave that Dr Merritt says directly contributed to making her ailment worse.
