WEDNESDAY, April 1, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Colder temperatures are linked to significantly more cardiovascular (CV) deaths than excessive heat, according to a short report published online March 24 in the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology to coincide with the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, held from March 28 to 30 in New Orleans.
Pedro Rafael Vieira de Oliveira Salerno, M.D. from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and colleagues evaluated the association between monthly mean ambient temperature and CV mortality in 819 counties across the United States from 2000 to 2020.
The researchers identified nearly 14.2 million deaths in adults aged 25 years and older. During the study period, there were an estimated 2,242 heat-attributable and 42,735 cold-attributable deaths per year, yielding annual mortality rates of 1.3 per 100,000 person-years for heat and 25.6 per 100,000 person-years for cold. It is estimated that 0.33 and 6.3 percent of total annual CV deaths were due to heat and cold, respectively.
"While heat waves are a major focus for health issues, colder temperatures are associated with far more heart-related deaths over time," Salerno said in a statement. "This isn’t just about extreme weather. Even routine cold exposure, especially in vulnerable patients, can increase cardiovascular risk."