Heat Stroke Should Never Happen to
You
By Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
Nobody should ever die of heat stroke, a
sudden uncontrolled rise in body temperature
that causes you to pass out, because your
body sends you warning signals as your temperature
rises.
I once almost died from heat stroke
in an unimportant local race in Arlington,
Virginia. I am still embarassed by the
stupidity that I showed when I ignored
all the warning signs as my temperature
continued to climb. First your muscles
are affected, then your circulation and
then your brain. As your temperature starts
to rise, your muscles feel like a hot
poker is pressing against them.
It is normal for intense exercise to
make your muscles burn, but hard exercise
does not cause painful burning that feels
like fire. Furthermore, the burning of
hard exercise is relieved by slowing down.
The muscle burning of impending heat stroke
does not go away when you slow down.
As your temperature rises further, the
air that you breathe feels like it's coming
from a furnace and no matter how rapidly
and deeply you try to breathe, you can't
take in enough air. When you exercise
intensely, you can become very short of
breath, but the air you breathe will not
burn your lungs. Burning in your lungs,
not relieved by slowing down, signals
impending heat stroke.
When you feel that the air is so hot
that it burns your lungs, stop exercising.
This sign means that your heart cannot
pump enough blood from your exercising
muscles to your skin so heat is accumulating
rapidly and your temperature is rising
rapidly. Your temperature is now over
104 and continuing to exercise will raise
your body temperature even further and
it will start to cook your brain.
Your head will start to hurt, you'll
hear a ringing in your ears, you may feel
dizzy, you may have difficulty seeing
and then you will end up unconscious.
Your temperature is now over 106 and your
brain is being cooked just like the colorless
portion of an egg turns white when it
hits the griddle.
Almost all cases of heat stroke occur
when you suddenly increase the intensity
of your exercise, like the finishing sprint.
of a long distance running or cycling
race, or an intense run down the field
in soccer.
When a person passes out from heatstroke,
get medical help immediately. Any delay
in cooling can kill him. Carry the victim
rapidly into the shade and place him on
his back with his head down and feet up
so blood can circulate to his brain. Cool
him by pouring on him any liquids you
can find or spray him with a hose. It
doesn't make any difference what you pour
on him: milk, Coca Cola, beer, or anything
else. Evaporation of any liquid cools.
As you cool him, he will then wake up
and talk to you and act like nothing has
happened. While he's sitting or lying
there, his temperature can rise again
and he can go into convulsions or pass
out again, so he must be watched for at
least an hour.
When you hear of a highly conditioned
athlete dying of heat stroke, think of
cocaine and amphetamines. An article in
the Archives of Internal Medicine shows
that a single nasal spray of cocaine blocks
blood flow to the skin and sweating, to
prevent a person from cooling his own
body.
During exercise, more than 70 percent
of the energy used to drive your muscles
is lost as heat, so you heart has to pump
extra blood from your hot muscles to your
skin where you sweat, sweat evaporates,
and cools your skin to dissipate the heat.
The harder you exercise, the more heat
your muscles produce. Everyone who exercises,
particularly in hot weather, has to sweat
to keep your body temperature from rising
too high. Cocaine and amphetamines can
kill exercisers by blocking sweating and
blood flow to the skin.
Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk
show host for 25 years and practicing
physician for more than 40 years; he is
board certified in four specialties, including
sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds
of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com
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