conversationJuly 13, 2021 11:41:57 AM
As a GP, I often treat patients with heat-related illnesses, the increase in hospitalizations and heat wave-related deaths associated with “severe non-motor hyperthermia” or what most people call “thermal radiation”. I know how to cause it.
Heat stroke is when a person’s core temperature gets too high. Often over 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees). The high ambient temperature and humidity prevents the body from cooling down through sweating and breathing. As heat stroke progresses, patients experience rapid heart rate, irregular breathing, dizziness, nausea, muscle cramps, and confusion. Ultimately, the patient can become completely unconscious.
Without medical intervention, heat stroke is often fatal. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 658 Americans die from heat stroke each year.
Heat stroke can be a victim of any age, but the most common are the elderly, especially those over 70. Our ability to cool our bodies decreases with age. In addition, many common drugs used to control blood pressure, seizures, and mental illness will decrease a person’s ability to regulate body temperature. These risks are even greater when the elderly are unaware of dangerous heat waves, do not have air conditioning in their homes, and have no one to control.
In addition to aging, there are other factors that increase the risk of heat stroke: obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Here are three tips on how you can prevent this potentially fatal situation:
- Stay hydrated. In hot weather, increase your fluid intake and avoid sweet drinks and alcohol. If your doctor restricts your daily fluid intake due to heart failure or another diagnosis, stay in touch with your doctor during the heat wave to avoid medical complications.
- remaining. Do not exercise during the hottest hours of the day (usually 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.). It is expected that higher levels of heat and humidity will increase post-exercise recovery time.
- Find a cool environment. If you don’t have an air-conditioned home or car, try the following:
- Wear light and breathable clothing
- Avoid spending time in direct sunlight
- Spray water and sit in front of the fan
- Take a cool bath or shower
- Place cooling packs on the neck, armpits and head
- Contact the local health department about the local thermal shelter
Fans help lower body temperature by moving air over the skin to evaporate sweat, rather than lowering the temperature. Fans are useful, but high humidity is better because air conditioners create dry air and cool the body.
In the heat of the heat, check in with your neighbors, family, and friends to make sure there is some way to keep you cool. If you run into someone with symptoms of heat stroke, call 911 and take them to the emergency room for evaluation and treatment.
Perhaps Lovin’Spoonful said it best in their hit song “Summer in the City”.
Hot city, summer in the city My neck gets dirty and gravelly Sinking, isn’t it a shame There seems to be no shadow in the city
If you are learning to avoid heat stroke, the next line of the song “People Who Look Half-Dead Everywhere” doesn’t need to explain to you. Just be cool, rest and rehydrate. It’s easy?
Gabriel Neil, Texas A&M University Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine
This article is republished from the conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original work ..
Source Link Here Are Three Tips To Prevent Heat Stroke – Technology News, Firstpost
