Recently, many European countries, including the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, and Germany, have encountered rare high heatwaves, with the local maximum temperature reaching 45 degrees. And wildfires are raging across Europe, where a heatwave has intensified drought conditions.
In addition to causing physical discomfort, high temperature can also easily lead to heat stroke. According to relevant medical research, "senile heat stroke patients have a mortality rate of more than 80%", so in hot summer, especially the middle-aged and the elderly, we must pay attention to heatstroke and keep "cool". The term "heat stroke" is familiar in summer, but do you really know about it?
What is heat stroke?
Heat stroke refers to an acute disease with central nervous system or cardiovascular and cerebrovascular dysfunction as the main symptom due to dysfunction of the thermoregulatory center or sweat gland failure, and a large loss of water and electrolytes under the condition of high temperature or humidity and no ventilation. . In general, it is easy to cause heat stroke if it is hot and stuffy without drinking water.
What are the symptoms of heat stroke?
After long-term exposure to high temperature environment, symptoms such as headache, dizziness, thirst, and sweating appear, and body temperature begins to rise. In severe cases, it may be accompanied by flushing and profuse sweating, skin burning, and clammy limbs. If not intervened in time , will gradually appear limb convulsions coma, severe can gradually form multiple organ failure.
Heatstroke can be divided into the following categories by symptoms and severity:
Threatened heat stroke
Exposure to high temperature environment, there will be severe drought, limb weakness, dizziness, thirst, headache, inattention, vertigo, tinnitus, incoordination, etc., with or without an increase in body temperature.
moderate heat stroke
Body temperature rises above 38 degrees Celsius, and symptoms such as burning skin, ruddy complexion, or dehydration appear.
severe heat stroke
Severe heatstroke also includes heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke
Heat cramps
It is more common in healthy young adults and manifests as short-term and intermittent muscle twitches during training in a high temperature environment, which usually lasts about 3 minutes. The patient's body temperature does not increase significantly, and there may be signs of profuse sweating.
Heat exhaustion
It is more common in the elderly, children and patients with chronic diseases. The patient has symptoms such as sweating, fatigue, dizziness, headache, impaired judgment, nausea and vomiting.
Thermoplegia
Thermoplegia is divided into two types
First type is more common in healthy young people, and it is manifested as fever, headache, sudden fainting, and confusion caused by long-term exposure to high temperature, high humidity, and high-intensity training in a windy environment.
Second type, which often occurs in the elderly, frail and chronically ill. Generally, the onset is slower, with symptoms such as confusion and coma. The body temperature can be as high as 40 to 42 degrees Celsius, and it is accompanied by heart failure and renal failure.
What can I do to prevent heat stroke?
1. Keep cool, stay away from high temperature.
Choose light and light-colored loose clothes, keep the room cool, and try to stay in the air-conditioned place. If there is no air conditioner at home, you can go to the shopping mall or public library to cool down.
2.Outdoor activities with low intensity.
When the weather is hot, try to arrange outdoor activities in the morning or evening, which is cooler. Or after a period of activity, pay attention to rest in a cool place. Adjust the intensity of outdoor exercise. If you experience rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, dizziness, palpitation, etc. during exercise, you need to stop exercising and find a cool place to rest in time.
3. Apply sunscreen to prevent sunburn.
Sunburn will affect the body's ability to cool down and lead to dehydration. If you must go outdoors, protect yourself from the sun by wearing a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, and applying sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher 30 minutes before going outside.
4. Eat a reasonable diet and keep your body hydrated.
Drink more water: drink in time, add water, and don't wait until you are thirsty to drink.
Stay away from sugary or alcoholic beverages: These beverages not only do not quench thirst, but also cause the body to lose a little more fluid;
Replenish salt and minerals in time: heavy sweating can lose salt and minerals, sports drinks can help replenish salt and minerals in sweat loss of minerals.
People with diabetes and high blood pressure may need to limit salt and drink sports drinks as prescribed by a doctor. In hot weather, the diet should be light. It is not advisable to eat high-calorie, greasy, and spicy foods. You can prepare some foods for heatstroke prevention and cooling.
How can we intervene in heat stroke?
Generally, for mild and moderate heatstroke, we can intervene by ourselves and recover in a short time. However, if measures are not taken in time, heatstroke may also endanger our life , so it is very necessary to know the correct treatment methods for heatstroke.
Get out of the environment: If there are signs of heat stroke, we should get out of the high temperature environment as soon as possible, maintain ventilation, let the patient lie down, remove excess clothing if necessary, and cool down.
Cool down in time: spray with cold water or wipe the whole body with a wet towel, fan to cool down, and maintain convection.
Pay attention to the patient's body temperature and mental state in a timely manner. If there is no relief, please call an ambulance immediately for rescue.
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