How medications and chronic illnesses can impair the body's ability to handle extreme heat
By
Erin Garcia de Jesús
Summary
This article explores how certain medications and chronic health conditions can impair the body's ability to regulate temperature during extreme heat waves. It explains the physiological mechanisms of thermoregulation — blood flow to skin and sweating — and how drugs like beta-blockers, diuretics, antidepressants, and antipsychotics can interfere with these processes. The piece also discusses how chronic illnesses (heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease) compound heat vulnerability, and notes the research challenges in studying these interactions due to ethical concerns of exposing vulnerable populations to dangerous heat conditions.
Source
Twitter / XHow medications and chronic illnesses can impair the body's ability to handle extreme heatsciencenews.orgKey quotes
· 3 pulledBlood rushes to the surface of our skin to release heat as sweat pours onto it, cooling us as it evaporates.
If these methods fail to keep body temperature in check, people can fall victim to heat-related symptoms such as headache, dizziness and confusion.
In severe cases, people might become delirious or go into organ failure.
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