India is grappling with a brutal heatwave as temperatures near 50°C. The sun isn’t just shining; it’s scorching! With ever-rising temperatures, there’s no escaping the oppressive heat (not yet), which can pose serious health risks. Excessive sweating, increased thirst, headache, fatigue, and nausea can be some of its warning signs and symptoms. If precautions are not taken, it can lead to heat strokes, heat exhaustion, and severe sunburns.
How Does Heat Impact Health?
Extreme heat can affect your health in a myriad different ways. Our body has an internal mechanism for regulation of temperature that allows it to warm or cool the body in response to the temperature outside. But when the outside temperature is too high, and your body starts to lose the water and electrolytes it needs to function normally, it struggles to expel the inner heat generated by the metabolic process. The extra effort the body has to make to try to cool itself exerts extreme stress on the heart, brain, and kidneys.
The resultant problems start off as mild but may become dangerous unless attended to.
- Dehydration: As we sweat, our body loses water and salts needed for all functions.
- Heat-induced exhaustion and lethargy: Fluid loss causes electrolyte imbalance which can trigger fatigue.
- Cardiovascular stress: To keep the body cool, the heart works overtime to pump extra blood and this can put pressure on the cardiovascular system.
- Respiratory distress: Heat can worsen air pollution which may cause breathing issues and trigger COPD and asthma attacks.
- Heatstroke: When a person is dehydrated and exposed to the heat for long, the ability to regulate body temperature is affected. Exposure to high heat for a long can disrupt the body’s temperature regulation mechanism leading to high body temperature.
Symptoms of heat stroke to watch for
Heat Stroke should be managed promptly under medical supervision. This is why for your own health and to be of assistance to someone who may suffer a heat stroke, it is crucial to be familiar with the symptoms of a heat stroke.
- Altered mental state or unusual behaviour such as confusion, delirium, feeling faint, not being able to think clearly, etc.
- Dizziness
- Very high body temperature
- Rapid pulse or a thudding heartbeat and extreme headache
- Nausea and vomiting
- Shallow but rapid breathing
- Seizures
It is essential to keep your cool during the heatwave, both metaphorically and literally, as it can be taxing on your health.