Starting today (July 16), the “dog days” of the 40-day “Super Long Standby Edition” officially began, and the hottest period of the year has come. Recently, extreme high temperatures have occurred in many places in our country, and some people have even died of heat stroke. So, what exactly is heat stroke? Who are most prone to heat stroke? How scary is heat stroke?
Heat stroke is a very common type of emergency in summer, which is directly related to the weather and is more likely to occur when the weather is hot and/or the air humidity is high .
Liu Jihai, deputy director of the emergency department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, said that the human body itself has a certain ability to self-regulate, but if you stay in such a high temperature and high humidity environment for a long time, heatstroke may occur, especially the elderly, children, Pregnant women, those special groups with relatively weak body temperature self-regulation ability, are more likely to suffer from heat stroke when they encounter hot weather.
Liu Jihai said that according to the severity, heatstroke can be divided into threatened heatstroke and heatstroke, and heatstroke can be divided into heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke according to different clinical manifestations. For the body, this is a continuous process of development. If the initial mild discomfort can be detected and dealt with in time, it will not develop to the most serious situation.
People with aura of heat stroke often experience symptoms such as fatigue and dizziness. If they can be transferred from a high temperature and high humidity environment to a relatively cool environment in time, and then pay attention to hydration, these symptoms can be completely relieved without special Worry. However, if it is not detected and treated in time, it may develop into heat stroke.
Cramps are what people call cramps. Human sweat contains a lot of water and electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, and calcium. If you sweat a lot in a high temperature and high humidity environment, it will cause a lot of water and electrolyte loss, causing Body muscle spasms.
In addition to feeling dizzy and fatigued, the most prominent manifestation of heat cramps is profuse sweating accompanied by muscle spasms, especially in the leg muscles, especially the calf muscles. Many athletes are prone to leg cramps when competing in a high temperature and high humidity environment, which is the performance of heat cramps.
Experts remind that when heat cramps occur, the key is to let the person with heat cramps quickly transfer to a relatively cool environment to rest, and at the same time replenish water and electrolytes, which is commonly referred to as mineral water, so that the Effectively relieves symptoms of heat cramps.
Then, if the above symptoms are not treated in time, the patient may enter the stage of heat exhaustion. The most prominent manifestation of this stage is the drop in blood pressure. The continuous loss of body water and electrolytes will cause the blood pressure to drop, and the patient’s general condition will become worse, but the patient’s mind is still basically awake at this time.
During heat exhaustion, the patient’s ability to regulate their own body temperature decreases. At this time, the patient is often accompanied by moderate to high fever, and the body temperature reaches 38°C to 39°C. The previous symptoms of dizziness, fatigue and even cramps are also present. may exist at the same time. For heat exhaustion, oral rehydration alone may not achieve sufficient effect. In this case, it is necessary to go to the hospital to cooperate with intravenous infusion to rehydrate and replenish electrolytes and other treatment measures, and at the same time, effectively reduce the temperature.
If there is no timely intervention and treatment, as his body temperature rises further, it will often exceed 40°C, and the patient will suffer from mental disorder or coma, which will develop into the most serious one. Heatstroke-like manifestations – heat stroke.
Liu Jihai introduced that according to existing statistics, the mortality rate of heat stroke is about 60% to 70%. Because heat stroke patients are hyperthermic, in the most severe cases, there will be brain cell damage, which will affect the central nervous system, which may cause a series of serious sequelae.
Liu Jihai said that the primary treatment for heat stroke is to lower the temperature. It is necessary to control the patient’s body temperature within an acceptable range to reduce the continuous damage to the body caused by high temperature, and at the same time cooperate with other treatment methods. , to protect the patient’s organ function as much as possible.
(China News)