Yoon Ja-young is in charge of articles translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times. She is interested in improving the newspaper through AI.
Summer brings about heat-related illnesses
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By Yoon Ja-young
By Yoon Ja-young
A heat wave is hitting the country as now there’s no rain to cool it off.
Sudden and excessive exposure to heat can incur a number of health problems, sometimes serious enough to cause death. More people, especially senior citizens, are expected to suffer this year as the summer is expected to be hotter than previous years. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the number of heat patients at emergency centers around the country increased by three times from June 1 to July 22 this year, compared with the same period last year.
Following are some of the illnesses related with summer heat and tips for prevention, provided by Prof. Cho Be-long at Seoul National University Hospital and the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
When you stand under the scorching sun for a long time, you may suddenly feel dizzy, collapsing to the ground. You may be having heat syncope. When a person is exposed to sudden heat, the peripheral blood vessels expand, and the blood concentrates in legs. As the brain doesn’t have sufficient blood supply, the person loses consciousness. Heat syncope isn’t always related with physical activities. It can suddenly occur anytime when one isn’t adapted to the high temperature. Once the person is adapted to heat, however, it usually doesn’t reoccur. That’s why the symptom is most common in early summer.
In most cases, the person will recover when they rest in a shade with good ventilation. It is helpful to recline into a posture where the feet are raised higher than the head.
Heat stroke, meanwhile, is rare but it can take life when without any treatment. It occurs when there goes something wrong in the thermocenter of the human body. The thermocenter is in charge of maintaining the body temperature, through such mechanisms as perspiration and respiration. When one is engaged in excessive physical activities in hot and humid atmosphere, the body temperature may rise sharp to 40 degrees Celsius, but the thermocenter may not work well to pull down the temperature through perspiration. The skin would get dry and hot, and the person may experience twitching and stupor.
In case of heat stroke, the body temperature should be pulled down to below 39 degrees as soon as possible, cooling the skin of the victim using ice or alcohol, for instance, and immediately transfer the patient to the hospital.
Heat exhaustion is similar to heat stroke in symptoms, but is less risky as the body temperature is below 39 degrees Celsius.
In case of heat cramp, the muscle experiences cramp after losing liquid and salinity due to severe physical activities. Most of the cramps experienced by athletes are heat cramps. For prevention, doctors recommend drinking enough sports drink before or in the middle of the exercise and do the stretching exercise.
Senior citizens or children are especially vulnerable to heat-related illnesses. Among the 14 casualties due to heat last summer, nine were senior citizens aged 65 or above. They are especially vulnerable as their sweat gland isn’t effective. As they perspire less, they have poor control over body temperature. Those with chronic diseases such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes or stroke may also see their problems worsening amid heat.
It is advised that they take care not to expose themselves to heat and take enough nutrition. Moderate exercise is also crucial to maintain health. Following are dos and don’ts when hit by heat wave, offered by the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
— Refrain from outdoor activities. Especially between noon and 5 p.m., senior citizens should avoid doing farm work or work in green houses. If you should, wear loose clothes and a wide-brimmed hat and drink plenty of water.
— If you feel dizziness, nausea, headache or muscle cramps, take a rest in a cool place and slowly drink cool water or other beverages. However, don’t drink caffeinated drinks or alcohol.
— Meals should be light and make sure to drink water often.
— Shade the sunlight with curtain.