: Summer heat can trigger health complications, especially among those with existing heart disease, doctors have warned.
As the mercury rises, the body loses more than usual amount of fluid to keep itself cool through sweating. The heart is forced to beat faster in order to pump the blood to the surface of the skin to assist in sweating, which cools the body, said the doctors.
“While most healthy people can tolerate these changes, those with damaged or weakened hearts may develop complications like heat strokes, dehydration, arrhythmias, angina and heart attacks; sometimes even leading to death,” said Dr. Praveer Agarwal, director and interventional Cardiologist at Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre.
Stating that heart patients are at high risk of suffering from heat strokes — a condition with life-threatening consequences — Dr. Agarwal said: “Plaque-narrowed arteries often limit blood-flow to the skin thereby triggering a heat stroke. In addition, medicines such as beta-blockers slowdown heartbeat. This limits the heart’s ability to pump blood fast enough to reach the surface of the skin.”
