Poor insulation causing deaths

By SIMON COLLINS

Poorly insulated Auckland homes are causing unnecessary deaths, according to a study.

The research, by Middlemore Hospital decision support manager Julie Harris and climatologist Jim Salinger, has found that respiratory admissions to Middlemore peak whenever the temperature drops below 10C.

Otago University research has found that proportionately more elderly die in winter in New Zealand than in northern Europe.

The difference is that many New Zealanders, especially in northern regions, live in uninsulated houses. "There is a concept that this area is the winterless north," Dr Salinger told the annual conference of the Meteorological Society in Auckland yesterday. "So when it does get cold, and people have habits here of only spot heating only one room, they get sick."

Otago Associate Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman has said that many New Zealanders live in temperatures of only 12-13C in winter, compared with a recommended World Health Organisation minimum of 18C. "When a house is cold the cardiovascular system has to work a lot harder."

The Middlemore study found that the biggest impact of cold weather was on admissions for respiratory diseases such as pneumonia, bronchitis and asthma. These average around six a day in summer, but more than doubled to 12 to 14 a day in most winters in the study period, 1995 to 2000.

Another study, by masters student Sarah Cockburn, found that deaths from respiratory diseases across Auckland jumped from one a day in summer to four or five a day in winter.

Herald feature: nzherald.co.nz/health