title: Ambient Temperature Change Increases in Stroke Onset: Analyses Based on the Japanese Regional Metrological Measurements.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Relationships between various climate factors and stroke have long been a subject of investigation. The present study investigated in a single medical center the effects of periodic temperature changes on the onset of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), atherothrombotic infarction (AI), lacunar infarction (LI), cardiogenic embolism (CE), and transient ischemic attack (TIA).
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects were 4,310 patients who had been hospitalized because of hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke from January 2000 through December 2005. Ambient temperature data were collected from the Japan Meteorological Agency Database. The following factors were analyzed: number of stroke onsets per day; mean, maximum, and minimum ambient temperatures; and differences between the mean temperatures on the onset day and the previous week. Relationships between temperature factors and totals based on stroke subtypes were assessed by means of regression analyses with a standard least squares model controlling for specific covariates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The daily admissions for ICH, SAH, AI, LI, and CE increased when the mean temperature on the onset day was 1°C lower than that of the previous week. Decreases in minimum ambient temperature predicted increased numbers of admissions for ICH and for SAH. Conversely, a 1°C increase in maximum ambient temperature significantly affected ICH, AI, and CE admissions. There was no definitive relationship between temperature change and admissions for TIA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both absolute and comparative changes in ambient temperature are related to increased onsets of hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke in Japan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Nippon Medical School Musashi Kosugi Hospital.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Takumi
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mishina
authors.forename: Shushi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kominami
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mizunari
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Teramoto
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morita
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors