What should the anemia elderly pay attention to in hot weather?

Summer has arrived, the environment is heating up. In recent weeks, the first major heat wave of the season has swept across the western United States, with temperatures climbing to 114 degrees Fahrenheit in Las Vegas and a record 118 degrees in Phoenix. The Pacific Northwest broke previous records for high temperatures, with many areas described by experts as blistering "heat domes. The heat emergency occurred June 28-29 in Boston, where the city still had the highest temperature recorded since 1933.

What are the effects of exposure to extreme heat on people?

Hot weather can cause people to become dehydrated, heat exhaustion and, in extreme cases, heat stroke. But hot days are also associated with an increased risk of a number of other conditions not normally thought of as "heat-related", such as kidney problems, skin infections and premature births in pregnant women. In fact, heat stroke, heat exhaustion and dehydration represent only a small fraction of the health risks associated with extreme heat days. It's not just extreme heat that poses a risk. Even moderately hot weather can put vulnerable people at higher risk.

What factors make people more vulnerable to the negative effects of hot weather?

Hot weather puts everyone at risk, but there is no doubt that certain groups and certain communities are at greater risk than others. The elderly, pregnant women, people with certain pre-existing conditions, and people with anemia who do not have access to air-conditioned spaces are also at higher risk. In some neighborhoods, the lack of trees and parks makes these neighborhoods warmer than the surrounding areas, leading to an urban heat island effect. People who live in urban heat islands are also considered to be at higher risk.

Over time, people and communities will partially adapt to the local climate. For example, homes in Phoenix or Houston (which tend to have a lot of hot days each summer) are more likely to have air conditioning than homes in [northern New England or the Pacific Northwest], where summers have historically been less hot. The typical climate of a region affects many aspects of how we live, move, work and play. Demographic characteristics can also affect vulnerability to heat. Communities with many older people or with more people working outdoors may be at higher risk than neighboring communities with different demographics.

Why is hot weather bad for anemia elderly?

As we all know, the human body temperature is constant, so why do you feel comfortable in the windy spring or golden breeze in autumn, but very uncomfortable in the heat of summer?

This is because different temperatures have different effects on human physiological activities, high temperatures are not conducive to the mediation of human temperature, under normal circumstances, the human body is through conduction, convection, radiation and water evaporation to regulate body temperature, so that it is suitable for external and internal conditions, in hot weather, the human body heat dissipation difficulties, thermoregulation function is limited, easy to cause heat accumulation in the human body and cause heat stroke, thus, high temperature is This shows that high temperature is a kind of catastrophic weather, especially persistent high temperature, which is very harmful to human body.

The effects of high temperatures on the frail elderly are most obvious, and it is important to note that the elderly may suffer from indoor "hidden heatstroke", which can be called "hidden heatstroke" because they have more underlying diseases and may become dehydrated. Hidden heatstroke should be distinguished from infectious diseases, and patients with heatstroke have high body temperature. For some elderly people with long-term chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, they may still be accustomed to visiting cardiology and neurology specialists when symptoms of heatstroke such as chest tightness and dizziness appear, which may delay the disease if the specialist does not treat the heatstroke in a timely manner.

What are the hazards of high temperature weather to the anemia elderly?

1. Diseases directly caused by high temperature

Under high temperature conditions, diseases directly caused by high temperature include heatstroke and psychogenic neurological disorders.

Heat stroke is an acute heat-induced disease caused by heat balance and water and salt metabolism disorders in a high-temperature environment, with central nervous system and cardiovascular system disorders as the main manifestations.

Psychogenic neurological disorders, also known as heat exhaustion, refer to the adverse effects of high temperature environment on mood, work capacity, and technical performance.

2. High temperature induced diseases

In the high temperature environment, the body is in a state of heat stress, sympathetic excitement, a lot of sweating, increased blood viscosity, the cardiovascular system is in a state of high load operation, the digestive system function is weakened, thus causing the aggravation of the original disease, such as blood pressure in the early and late heat of the dramatic changes, can induce heart disease, high blood, coronary heart disease.

Increased blood viscosity can cause blood clots and thus strokes; weakened digestive system leads to a negative nutritional state of the body and further aggravate the original organic diseases.

3. Common heat diseases

High summer temperatures, the human metabolism, energy consumption, and the heat often make people sleep deprivation, loss of appetite, the body's immunity and resistance began to decline, coupled with too greedy for cool, such as direct blowing fan or air conditioning, resulting in germs, viruses take advantage of the situation, thus causing colds and flu.

Heat stroke

In the hot summer, the human body sweats more, and the elderly have less water in their bodies than young people, plus the physiological response is slow, so they are prone to dehydration in the summer. The blood flow to the brain is slowed down and the chance of stroke is increased.

Diarrhea

Diarrhea has a lot to do with improper diet. The high temperature and humidity in summer will promote the reproduction and growth of bacteria, and food will easily decay.

Mental illness

Due to the effects of high temperatures, about 16% of people, especially the middle-aged and elderly, will experience emotional and behavioral abnormalities, a condition called "summer affective disorder".

When the ambient temperature exceeds 30°C, the sunshine time exceeds 12 hours, and the moderate is higher than 80%, the influence of weather factors on the emotion regulation center of the human hypothalamus is obviously enhanced, and the occurrence of emotional disorders is significantly increased, coupled with more sweating, the electrolyte metabolism in the human body is impaired, which affects the neural activity of the brain, resulting in emotional and behavioral abnormalities. Behavioral abnormalities.

4. High temperature causes death

The impact of high temperature on human health is multifaceted, some directly lead to disease, some indirectly affect the original disease, or affect the human emotional and nervous system, and the most serious consequence is to cause death.

As a meteorological factor, high temperature itself can directly lead to severe heat stroke and death, or it can be used as a precipitating factor to aggravate the condition of patients who suffer from certain serious organic diseases themselves and die.

In addition, high temperature causes a person's neurological function to weaken, leading to accidents and causing death, and even high temperature conditions of human behavior to adapt to activities that can lead to behavioral changes and the emergence of dangerous behavioral factors leading to death.

5. Which diseases are likely to cause death

High temperature, as a meteorological factor, can act directly on the human body and lead to heat stroke, although the human body has a strong ability to regulate and adapt to general high temperature conditions.

However, prolonged exposure to high temperatures or excessive heat radiation can cause heat damage, such as heat exhaustion, heat stroke and heat cramps, of which the mortality rate of heat stroke in severe heat stroke is very high.

It is clear from this that hot weather is very harmful to the human body, and hot weather lasting too long can bring serious harm to the normal activities of the muscles, requiring special attention to prevent and cool down the heat.

What are the symptoms of heat stroke and first aid steps for anemia elderly?

What should we do in a hot weather?

Keep your home cool

• Aim to keep your living space cool. Check the room temperature between 08:00 and 10:00, at 13:00 and at night after 22:00. Ideally, the room temperature should be kept below 32 °C during the day and 24 °C during the night. This is especially important for infants or people who are over 60 years of age or have chronic health conditions.
• Maintaining indoor humidity is good for regulating indoor temperature. Placing a humidifier at home can make the indoor temperature comfortable, while maintaining humidity in air-conditioned rooms can also prevent moisture loss.
• Use the night air to cool down your home. Open all windows and shutters during the night and the early morning, when the outside temperature is lower (if safe to do so).
• Reduce the heat load inside the apartment or house. Close windows and shutters (if available) especially those facing the sun during the day. Turn off artificial lighting and as many electrical devices as possible.
• Hang shades, draperies, awnings or louvers on windows that receive morning or afternoon sun.
• Hang wet towels to cool down the room air. Note that the humidity of the air increases at the same time.
• If your residence is air conditioned, close the doors and windows and conserve electricity not needed to keep you cool, to ensure that power remains available and reduce the chance of a community-wide outage.
• Electric fans may provide relief, but when the temperature is above 35 °C, may not prevent heat-related illness. It is important to drink fluids.

Keep out of the heat

• Move to the coolest room in the home, especially at night.
• If it is not possible to keep your home cool, spend 2–3 hours of the day in a cool place (such as an airconditioned public building).
• Avoid going outside during the hottest time of the day.
• Avoid strenuous physical activity if you can. If you must do strenuous activity, do it during the coolest part of the day, which is usually in the morning between 4:00 and 7:00.
• Stay in the shade.
• Do not leave children or animals in parked vehicles.

Keep the body cool and hydrated

• Take cool showers or baths. Alternatives include cold packs and wraps, towels, sponging, foot baths, etc.
• Wear light, loose-fitting clothes of natural materials. If you go outside, wear a wide-brimmed hat or cap and sunglasses.
• Use light bed linen and sheets, and no cushions, to avoid heat accumulation.
• Drink regularly, but avoid alcohol and too much caffeine and sugar.
• Eat small meals and eat more often. Avoid foods that are high in protein

Help others

• The hot weather makes the air deprived of oxygen and can also cause phenomena such as heat stroke. Having an oxygen concentrator at home may save your life in a critical moment.
• Plan to check on family, friends, and neighbours who spend much of their time alone. Vulnerable people might need assistance on hot days.
• Discuss extreme heat-waves with your family. Everyone should know what to do in the places where they spend time.
• If anyone you know is at risk, help him or her to get advice and support. Elderly or sick people living alone should be visited at least daily.
• If a person is taking medication, ask the treating doctor how it can influence thermoregulation and the fluid balance.
• Get training. Take a first-aid course to learn how to treat heat emergencies and other emergencies. Everyone should know how to respond.

If you have health problems

• Keep medicines below 25 °C or in the refrigerator (read the storage instructions on the packaging).
• Seek medical advice if you are suffering from a chronic medical condition or taking multiple medications.

If you or others feel unwell

• Try to get help if you feel dizzy, weak, anxious or have intense thirst and headache; move to a cool place as soon as possible and measure your body temperature.
• Drink some water or fruit juice to rehydrate.
• Rest immediately in a cool place if you have painful muscular spasms (particularly in the legs, arms or abdomen, in many cases after sustained exercise during very hot weather), and drink oral rehydration solutions containing electrolytes. Medical attention is needed if heat cramps last more than one hour.
• Consult your doctor if you feel unusual symptoms or if symptoms persist. If one of your family members or people you assist presents hot dry skin and delirium, convulsions and/or unconsciousness, call a doctor/ambulance immediately. While waiting for help, move the person to a cool place, put him or her in a horizontal position and elevate legs and hips, remove clothing and initiate external cooling, for example, by placing cold packs on the neck, axillae and groin, fanning continuously and spraying the skin with water at 25–30 °C. Measure the body temperature. Do not give acetylsalicylic acid or paracetamol. Position an unconscious person on his or her side.

References:

1. Heat and Health - WHO | World Health Organization

2. Hot Environments - Health Effects and First Aid : OSH Answers

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