Experts say issues go beyond just coughing, sore throat

Smoke from Saskatchewan’s wildfires may have largely dissipated for now, but researchers say the effects on people’s health can linger.

Sarah Henderson, director of environmental health services with British Columbia’s Centre for Disease Control, said researchers are finding the health effects of exposure to wildfire smoke go beyond acute symptoms like coughing and sore throats.

“There’s some pretty cool and slightly scary new studies around dementia, for example, where people who were exposed to wildfire smoke were at much higher risk of developing dementia than people who were exposed to air pollution from other sources,” Henderson told CBC’s The Morning Edition.