{"id":14669,"date":"2023-07-27T21:58:42","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T18:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/?p=14669"},"modified":"2023-07-27T21:58:46","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T18:58:46","slug":"the-treatment-of-the-dangerous-symptoms-of-heatstroke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/?p=14669","title":{"rendered":"The Treatment of the Dangerous symptoms of Heatstroke"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>High summer temperatures create several risks for our health. Heat stroke is the overheating (hyperthermia) of the body, i.e. the increase of its temperature to high and dangerous levels. It is a severe and urgent clinical condition that usually occurs during hot weather and mainly affects elderly and debilitated people. Its symptoms may resemble those of a heart attack or stroke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mammals have a thermoregulatory mechanism that allows them to live in large fluctuations in external temperature while maintaining a constant body temperature. This means that in the external environment the temperature can be +40 or -40 degrees Celsius but the internal tissues of the body are kept at a temperature of 36.6 \u2013 37.1 degrees. When the environment is cold, the body produces heat to stay warm, while when the environment is warm, the body expels heat to keep its temperature from rising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The body expels heat by limiting its burns, dilating small vessels, increasing sweating and speeding up breathing). The thermoregulatory mechanism is based in the brain and is sometimes simply called the &#8216;thermostat&#8217;. Sometimes, however, this mechanism can be blocked and hyperthermia or hypothermia can occur. One way the former can happen is prolonged exposure to the sun (sunburn).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The triptych, high temperature, high atmospheric humidity and apnea constitutes the condition of heat stroke. From the 1980s onwards the media adopted the term heat wave, implying temperatures that can cause heat stroke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Susceptible to heatstroke, apart from the elderly, are patients who take vasodilator and diuretic drugs, i.e. people suffering from arterial hypertension, heart failure as well as people suffering from diabetes.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-99-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14671\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Predisposing factors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Age over 65 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Heart failure, kidney failure, liver failure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use of alcohol or other depressant drugs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use of antidepressants, phenothiazines, antiparkinsonian drugs, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>History of previous heat stroke.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Obesity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Work under very high ambient temperature.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The symptoms<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first symptom is usually cramps due to loss of salts. Dizziness, confusion, headache, nausea and vomiting may occur. Delirium, convulsions and sometimes complete loss of consciousness can also be observed. The skin is hot, red and dry, the fever can reach 41 degrees Celsius, the breathing is fast while the pulse gradually weakens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In severe heatstroke the patient suffers massive muscle destruction, kidney and respiratory failure and even pulmonary edema. Heart rhythm is disrupted as is blood clotting. In advanced stages, encephalopathy can even be observed which can lead to coma while death in these conditions is very likely. A 25% mortality rate of sufferers is reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Prevention<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although heat stroke can be fatal or cause permanent damage, it can be prevented relatively easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We consume plenty of fluids, lots of fruit &#8211; salads, limit sugar and alcoholic beverages. We avoid exposure to the sun and make sure to cover the body with light-colored comfortable cotton clothes and the head with a hat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you suspect heatstroke:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Move the patient immediately to a cool place.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Remove heavy clothing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Apply cold packs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If possible, give plenty of fluids.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You transport the patient to the nearest health facility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>High summer temperatures create several risks for our health. Heat stroke is the overheating (hyperthermia) of the body, i.e. the increase of its temperature&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2959,2993,2958],"tags":[4514,4490,3706,4515,4516],"class_list":["post-14669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-healthcare","category-life","category-medical","tag-heat-stroke","tag-heat-wave","tag-obesity","tag-summer","tag-symptoms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14669"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14672,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14669\/revisions\/14672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}