When a heat wave arrives, the public health advice follows a familiar script: drink water, watch for heat stroke, check on people with heart or lung conditions. That list saves lives. But it leaves out something that shapes daily life for millions of older Americans – chronic pain.
In a new study, public health professor Kai Zhang and I followed over 35,000 adults over age 50 across two decades, matching each person and their reports of chronic pain to the temperature history of their neighborhood.
