: 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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.”
Symptoms
The symptoms of heat stroke include sweating, cold and clammy skin, dizziness, fainting, muscle cramps, heat rash, swelling in the ankles, shallow breathing, nausea, and vomiting.
ADVERTISEMENT
Prevention
To prevent heat stroke, it is crucial for heart patients to stay indoors during the afternoon hours when the temperature is highest, wear airy and loose clothing, stay well hydrated and not exercise in the heat.
If a person suffers a heat stroke, heart patients must be immediately taken to the nearest hospital.
Dr. Sanjay Kumar, HOD and principal consultant at Cardiology Fortis Escorts Hospital, said: “Dehydration can trigger arterial fibrillation and strokes. To avoid arrhythmias, it is important to keep drinking water, even if you don’t feel thirsty.”
Doctors advise that people above the age of 50 often become victims of dehydration and must take special care to ensure that they frequently drink water when outside.
Diuretics (water pills), often prescribed to heart patients, make dehydration worse by increasing urine output.