United States: When it is still hot out, and the summer is still making its presence felt in terms of humidity, what goes on within the territory of the human organism is a war that could easily boil down to a matter of a few degrees.
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Researchers who have subjected people to heat to determine what happens, especially outdoors, say that the critical danger point is somewhat lower than the several-degree difference that was once believed to lead to illness and death due to relentless heat.
Since the climate has changed due to actions taken by people in the past, much of the United States, Mexico, India, and the Middle East are now experiencing scorching heat waves, as ABC News reported.
Innate body temperature appears to be approximately 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius).
It’s only 7 degrees (or 4 Celsius) away from heatstroke,” concluded Ollie Jay, a professor of heat and health at the University of Sydney in Australia, where he operates a thermoergonomics laboratory.
Emergency Medicine Director, Dr. Neil Gandhi of Houston Methodist Hospital added during heat waves anybody presenting a fever of 102 degrees Fahrenheit or above without an apparent source is evaluated for heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Gandhi added, “We routinely will see core temperatures greater than 104, 105 degrees during some of the heat episodes.”
Impact of heat on the human body
According to Jay, heat has three forms of killing: heat stroke, exhaustion, and dehydration. This means that the conventional primary person of interest is heatstroke — severe elevations in bodily temperature that lead to the breakdown of organs.
According to Jay, inner body temperature increases beyond normal levels, and the body neutralizes it by circulating blood around the skin. But that, again, reduces the blood and oxygen supply to the stomach and intestines and can cause an allowed leakage of toxins that are supposed to stay in the gut area to enter the bloodstream, as ABC News reported.
Jay added, “That sets off a cascade of effects,” and, “Clotting around the body and multiple organ failure and, ultimately, death.”
However, the real villain in heat is the load it puts on the heart, particularly, for those in a Cardiovascular disease category, as highlighted by Jay.
It once more initiates an increase in blood flow at the skin layer to assist in sweating of deep-body heat. That results in lowering of blood pressure condition. This event results in the heart’s effort to pump more blood in an attempt to prevent fainting.
It again starts with blood rushing to the skin to help shed core heat. That causes blood pressure to drop. The heart responds by trying to pump more blood to keep you from passing out.
Jay said, “You’re asking the heart to do a lot more work than it usually has to do,” and, for someone who has a heart condition, “it’s like running for a bus with a dodgy (hamstring). Something’s going to give.”