Heart patients may suffer life-threatening emergencies in extreme hot weather

Rawalpindi:The extreme hot weather conditions prevailing almost all across the country including the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi may cause mild to moderate and at times life-threatening complications among people living with heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases.

Health experts believe that the extreme hot and humid weather conditions put a greater strain on the heart of both healthy persons and chronic patients. The heart has to bear an extraordinary pressure during extreme heat and humidity that may bring on angina symptoms. In extreme hot weather conditions, the body sweats to cool itself down and during the process, the body loses more fluids that can drop blood pressure and make the heart beat faster.

Studies reveal that a significantly higher level of humidity in the air can interfere with the body’s ability to sweat and cool off. Exposure to extreme heat and sweating may lower the amount of fluid in the body, which can reduce blood volume and lead to dehydration. This may create strain on the heart. Experts say that to avoid life-threatening emergencies, chronic patients suffering from heart disease or any of the cardiovascular diseases should avoid exposure to severe heat and should stay in cooler environments particularly during the severe heat spell like the existing one.

The extreme heat wave hitting the population at the time in Pakistan may prove to be much damaging for heart patients and may increase the chances of heart failure among the patients who have had a heart attack earlier. A heart patient’s heart may not afford extra strain and may not work harder in the extreme heat to maintain core body temperature. If one is not a patient of heart failure or blood pressure, he or she should take salted water after having heavy sweating to avoid loss of essential fluids and salts but chronic patients should increase intake of water in hot weather conditions. If a patient’s fluid intake is restricted because of some medical conditions like heart failure, the patients must visit his or her physician for advice.

A top cardiologist, Major General (r) Azhar Mehmood Kayani, has expressed to ‘The News’ that in extreme hot weather conditions, the core body temperature increases and to control it, the blood circulation increases towards periphery, legs and arms, vasodilation (dilation of blood vessels) occurs at the periphery that decreases blood pressure and increases the heart rate. Also the body starts sweating heavily causing loss of fluids and salts that also causes increase in heart rate and decrease in blood pressure putting extra burden on the heart.

Dr. Kayani has explained that for healthy persons, the effects may be less damaging until they stay hydrated by taking sufficient quantity of fluids and salts but for heart patients, the hot and humid weather conditions may be highly damaging and critical because the heart rate increases and the patients who have had angina may feel chest pain or suffer heart attack.

Health experts say that to mitigate the bad effects of extreme hot weather, both the healthy persons and the patients should wear light-coloured, lightweight and loose clothing having loose collars. Try not to wear socks and stay in a cooler environment. Heart patients should get their dose of medicines adjusted and avoid exposure to sun during the hottest hours of the day, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Studies reveal that with the rise in mercury, your heart has to beat faster and work harder to pump blood to the surface of your skin to assist with sweating to cool your body and if the body cannot cool itself enough, the strain is put on the heart and organs can begin to suffer damage - a potentially fatal condition known as heat stroke that has already claimed a number of lives during the heat waves this year in Pakistan.