Heatstroke is considered as a medical emergency. If a person suffering from it is not treated in time, he may pass into a coma very soon. As a matter of fact, several victims of heatstroke expire as vital parts of their body like the heart or kidney fail due to the extreme body heat.
Everyone can suffer from this ailment but the elderly citizens, infants and children are more vulnerable to its grasp. People suffering from some typical diseases like diabetes and obese and alcoholic people are also among the endangered lots.
Causes of Heatstroke
When the human body is exposed to heat of the sun, it starts sweating to bring down the temperature. The majority of the people lose a liter sweat each day. However, if a person is continually exposed to hot weather and loses excess liquid or salt, he suffers from heat exhaustion.
If a person suffering from heat exhaustion is not treated or continue to receive the heat he can face a fatal ailment named Heatstroke. When a person contracts heatstroke the default cooling mechanism of his body fails and his body can not lose heat any more. As a result his body temperature rises.
Heatstroke Symptoms
The symptoms of this menace can vary from person to person. Sometimes an affected person may feel the common signs of heat exhaustions like fatigue, nausea, headache, dizziness and muscle cramps when he is about to face the attack of heat stroke.
As a matter of fact, the symptoms of the menace can show up in a person suddenly and can resemble those of cardiac arrest. The most commonplace signs of Heatstroke are extreme body temperature, fast pulse rate, seizure and coma. A person under the seize of heatstroke may also undergo hallucinations and can behave in a peculiar way.
Prevent and Treat Heatstroke
The victims of heat stroke need to be given immediate treatment to evade enduring damage to their organs. The most important step required is to keep the person cool. He needs to be moved from the source of the heat and should be taken to a shady location. Thereafter, his dresses need to be removed and cool water needs to be applied on his skin.
His body temperature should be noted and cooling should be provided until his body temperature comes down to some extent. It would be advisable to arrange for expert medication but until the person can be hospitalized he should be given effective cooling. If it is possible, the affected person should be removed to an air conditioned room.
Advice
The vital step to get rid of heat exhaustion and heat stroke is avoiding dehydration of the body. A person should not work out for long in humid and hot climate. In case he has to do so, he should drink lots of water and fruit juice to replenish the water loss from the body. At the same time, he should avoid drinks that cause dehydration like tea, coffee, alcohol etc.
It is also imperative to understand the most prevalent symptoms of heat exhaustion that gradually leads to heatstroke. They are Heat cramps and Heat Rash. The latter is a type of skin irritation triggered by too much sweating in humid and hot climate. It resembles a red group of blisters or pimples on the skin.
Heat cramps denote the painful muscle spasms caused by tiring activity in extreme heat. In this condition the skin feels sweaty but cool. When a person develops these symptoms it can be understood that he has become a victim of heat exhaustion. Hence appropriate care needs to be taken to ensure that he gets relief.
Ideally, a person suffering from heatstroke should be admitted to the intensive care unit in a hospital. It will ensure that his body temperature can be brought under control. Restoring the required amounts of water and salts in his body also become easier in this case.
