As reports of heat illness have increased due to high temperatures across the nation, an emergency-room physician said that four types of medicines might also contribute to increased risks of heat-related illness.
Wei Chih-wei (魏智偉), director of the emergency room at Tung General Hospital in Taichung, said that as many people are traveling and enjoying outdoor activities in the summer, they should take preventive measures to minimize the risk of heat-related illness, including heatstroke and heat exhaustion.
According to Ministry of Health and Welfare data, 181 emergency rooms have reported 659 visits for heat illness from July 1 to Friday, which is 1.8 times higher than the 370 visits reported in the same period last year.
Photo provided by a member of the public via CNA
As of Friday, 1,722 emergency-room visits for heat illness have been reported this year, which is about 40 percent higher than the 1,248 visits reported in the same period last year, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said in a news release yesterday.
Wei said that the most severe heat illness was heatstroke, which is caused by prolonged exposure to high temperatures and when the body’s ability to regulate heat is overwhelmed, leading the body temperature to rise to 41.1°C or higher.
Early symptoms of heatstroke might include dizziness, headache, nausea, tiredness or rapid breathing, Wei said, adding that without immediate treatment, a person could experience an altered mental state or confusion, agitation, delirium, loss of consciousness, seizure, vital organ damage and even death.
“While elderly people, children, people with chronic diseases or excessive alcohol use have a higher risk of heatstroke, some medications also affect the body’s ability to regulate its temperature, causing increased risk of heatstroke,” he said.
Wei said that anticholinergic drugs — such as antihistamines for treating congestion and some drugs for treating the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease — could stop the activation of sweat glands, while sympatholytic drugs, such as caffeine and ephedrine, could cause blood vessels to narrow and increase metabolic heat production.
Some types of drugs used to lower blood pressure, such as beta blockers and calcium channel blockers, could reduce the cardiovascular system’s ability to regulate temperatures, he said.
Other drugs, like antidepressant and antipsychotic medications, could reduce sweating and disrupt the body’s ability to reduce its core temperature respectively, he added.
Wei said that people who are taking these four types of medicine should drink plenty of water, wear a hat or use parasol under the sun, and avoid abruptly discontinuing their medication.
The HPA also says that people should drink at least 2 liters of water per day and drink frequently when outdoors, not only when they feel thirsty.
People should also drink at least 500ml of water every 30 minutes if they are working or exercising outdoors, it said.
It also recommend that people avoid outdoor activities between 10am and 2pm, take preventive measures against sun exposure if they must go out during these hours, and leave a high-temperature environment and seek immediate medical treatment if they begin to show symptoms of a heat illness.
Additional reporting by Yang Yuan-ting
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