Attention: Runners/walkers, bikers, tennis/pickleball and bocce enthusiasts, golfers, swimmers/water exercisers in warm water, and all Sun City seniors! Since summer has finally arrived with its sunny skies and high temperatures, a word to the “wise” becomes necessary. Hyperthermia is the general term given to heat-related health disorders. Two of the most common forms of hyperthermia are heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Heat stroke is especially deadly! It is a known fact that the elderly do not adapt well to high temperatures.
However, according to MedicineNet.com, “The temperature does not have to hit 100 degrees for a person (especially a senior) to be at risk. Both one’s general health and/or lifestyle may increase a person’s chance of suffering a heat-related illness.”
These are the health factors, mentioned by this web page, which may increase your risk: 1. Poor circulation, inefficient sweat glands, and changes in the skin caused by the normal aging process; 2. Heat, lung, and kidney diseases, as well as any illness that causes general weakness or fever; 3. High blood pressure or other conditions that require changes in diet (salt restricted diets); 4. The inability to perspire; caused by medications including diuretics, sedatives and tranquilizers, and certain heart and blood pressure drugs; 5. Taking several drugs for various conditions (***DO NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES ON MEDS. without consulting your physician first); 6. Being substantially overweight or underweight;7. Drinking alcoholic beverages.
Lifestyle factors that can increase your risk factor for heat stroke are extremely hot living quarters, lack of transportation, overdressing, visiting overcrowded places (I fainted in the Sistine Chapel/Italy and my husband fainted in the Blue Mosque/Turkey on a recent August trip to the Mediterranean). Add to this list prolonged or intense exercise.
MedicineNet.com continues “Older people, particularly those at special risk (see health factors above), should stay indoors on especially hot and humid days, particularly when there is an air pollution alert in effect (this is very important for patients with lung and heart disorders).”
The medical advisory informs us to be alert to hyperthermia symptoms such as nausea, headache, and fatigue, brought on by exposure to heat. If you have heat-related health illnesses such as heat stress, heat fatigue, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, or heat syncopes (fainting spells experienced by my husband and I mentioned above, and one fainting episode experienced by my husband after running on a cruise deck this past May in Italy). Be alert to changes in your body and get help before your condition leads to heat stroke. Get out of the sun, drink water and juices, avoid alcohol and caffeine, sponge off or shower or drop into a pool with cool water, and rest in a cool area. Heat stroke demands seeking IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION for the victim. It is LIFE-THREATENING and is characterized by a 104 degree body temperature. Other symptoms may include bizarre behavior, faintness, staggering, strong rapid pulse, dry flushed skin, a lack of sweating, chilliness and vomiting, and possible delirium or coma. Many people die of this heat disorder each year, and most are over the age of 50.
If you plan to be active in the outdoors for the remaining warm days of summer, do take the following preventative steps recommended by www.HealthLetter.MayoClinic.com in their August, 2015 newsletter: 1. Drink enough non-alcoholic, non-sugary beverages (and non-caffeinated); water is best (***Ask your doctor if changes should be made for fluid or salt intake in warm weather); 2. Cool down with cold showers, cold baths, or cool water swims; 3. Dress for the weather: Wearing excess or tightfitting clothes interferes with your body’s ability to cool down; 4. Choose mornings and evenings for more active endeavors when temps and the sun are not as intense, and take breaks in the shade and in air-conditioning; 5. If extreme hyperthermia symptoms mentioned above persist, get HELP AT ONCE!
