How to Avoid “Heat Stroke”

We know the “sunburn” and, in particular thanks to the prevention campaigns carried out by dermatologists, we know how to protect ourselves from it. But the “heat stroke” is less known and yet it can very easily send you to the hospital!

What happens when you suffer from “heat stroke”? It’s simple: the pot heats up and the safety valve that is all the mechanisms that regulate body temperature turns red! Result: a fever that can reach or even exceed 40°, reddened and dry skin, blood pressure that makes the yo-yo and sometimes intense headaches.

In the most serious cases, convulsions, coma and death

Worse, these symptoms can be accompanied by delirium, loss of consciousness and, in the most serious cases, seizures or coma that can lead to death.

The danger in the event of high temperatures is not to feel the consequences apart from the feeling of being very hot. Most often due to lack of humidity or because you are in a place where the air circulates badly, the perspiration which ensures the regulation of the body’s temperature no longer acts sufficiently and the machine overheats.

Greater risk for the elderly and babies

Those who are most at risk are the elderly who have a diminished feeling of dehydration and heat, babies and young children and anyone who is overweight.

It should also be remembered that “heat stroke” occurs more easily in the event of alcohol consumption: although it is a liquid, an alcoholic drink is above all … a desiccant since it has the effect of eliminating more what we absorb.

And then the taking of certain drugs, in particular those prescribed against motion sickness or antidepressants which disturb the mechanism of perspiration, promote “heat stroke”.

The precautions to take

We are not all equal in the face of this risk: depending on genetic factors, some react better than others to high heat. If you are not one of the lucky ones who are born with significant perspiration to evacuate heat from the body, it is imperative to take a few precautions:

– Drink a drink every half hour that is not necessarily very cold, preferring water to sugary drinks.

– Have a moistened cloth close at hand to pass over the forehead; a particularly suitable way to protect toddlers or older children.

– With the quasi-generalization of air conditioning, the “heat stroke” in the car which we protected ourselves with sun visors on the windows and when driving with the window slightly open is no longer relevant. But don’t forget that air conditioning dries out the air: so if you’re traveling by car, take a break every two hours and drink a big sip of water.