Introduction to Heat-Related Illnesses
Finally, sunshine! Time to go to the park or the lake and make the beautiful weather optimal. But at some point, there is enough, and our body needs a break. If you spend too much time in the sun, you can get heat creation. And those who work hard in the heat can even suffer a heating lift. The terms heat creation and heat stroke are often confused. Instead of two different things, you can see them more as two different severity levels of the severity in relation to your body getting hotter.
What is Heat Creation?
A lot of sun or the extreme temperatures of heat waves can overheat your body and lead to heat creation. Heat creation is a heat-related disease such as heat rash, heat cramps, or heat stroke. Although less serious than thermal suspension, this can lead to a more serious variant. Headaches are usually the first sign of heat creation. They are hot, their face is red, they sweat a lot, they move slower, and they will probably experience tiredness, nausea, and vomiting. You may also feel dizzy or even weak. What you may not expect: the skin of someone with heat creation is usually not hot, but cool.
Heat Creation: What to Do?
First of all, those who suffer from heat creation should immediately be brought from the sun to a cool place or in the shade and drink water as quickly as possible. Cold, damp cloths can cool down the body. In addition, someone with heat creation should drink many liquids to make hydration normal again. Cold water or sports drinks fill up lost salts, but avoid alcohol and caffeine. You can dehydrate this, in addition to excessive sweating, which, according to experts, can cause an additional loss of fluid of up to two liters on very hot days. You have to rest until the symptoms get better. It is essential to know that in severe cases, serious vomiting, confusion, or even unconsciousness can occur. In this case, you should see a doctor, if only to exclude thermal suspension.
What is Heat Stroke?
Heat stroke is more dangerous than heat creation and can occur, for example, if you carry out physical activities in a hot environment or if heat creation is not treated properly. If it is extremely hot outside, the body decreases more warmth than it can release. The body temperature can increase to 41 °C (105.8 °F) within 10 to 15 minutes. This acute overheating leads to an inflammatory reaction in the entire body. The body’s temperature regulation system and sweat production stop, for example. Sweating is how your body cools down. Without it, her body temperature rises. Heat stroke is life-threatening. The symptoms include impairment of consciousness, headache, dizziness, and drowsiness; seizures, vomiting, diarrhea, and low blood pressure can also occur.
Heat Stroke: What to Do?
The emergency services should be alerted immediately at the first signs of a thermal suspension. The person concerned should be taken from the sun and heat in a cool or shady place. Your body should be cooled as soon as possible with cold water, ice pools, or soaked clothes, and the person concerned should receive liquids if possible. Excess clothing should be removed. If you breathe unconsciously, but normally, the person should be placed in a stable horizontal position until the emergency staff arrives. Regular breathing and awareness must be checked regularly. If the person does not breathe normally, the resuscitation efforts must be started.
Avoidance of Heat Creation and Heat Stroke
At extremely high temperatures, the heat regulation system of our body quickly reaches its limits. In addition, older people often drink too little water. As a result, the body cannot produce enough sweat, which makes it difficult for the body to cool off by itself. In many cases, it is then recommended, and the safest way is to call a doctor. The best way to avoid heat creation or even heat stroke is obvious: don’t get too much sun and avoid it especially around noon. Protect your head with a light hat; avoid extreme warmth and drink many liquids if possible. As a rule of thumb, an adult needs at least half a liter of water on hot days.
