The very hot days, typical of summer, increase the risk of death due to cardiovascular diseases, especially in people over 50 years of age. The high summer temperatures increase the thickness of the blood, increasing the pressure and heart rate, thus increasing the risk of suffering a heart attack or having a stroke.
The risk increases when temperatures go over 32ºC, which is common in the summer and besides being more serious for those who already suffer from high cholesterol and high blood pressure, the risk also increases for people who have high blood pressure at one time or another and for that everyone should protect themselves from the heat and pay even more attention to their pressure.
Warning signs
On very hot days, watch for the following signs that may indicate a heart attack or stroke:
- Chest pain that may radiate to the arm, back or chinWeird feeling in the throat; Anxiety; Fast heartbeat; Dizziness or headache.
When observing these symptoms, try to sit the victim down and loosen his clothes and call an ambulance.
What to do to lower the pressure
In addition to daily care such as drinking plenty of water, avoiding alcoholic beverages and restricting the consumption of fats, if the pressure is above 140 x 90 mmHg, you should have a glass of orange juice or lemonade with sugar and wait for a while until can measure the pressure again.
If the person already takes medicine to control the pressure, he should take this medicine as soon as possible. Most of the time, the hypertensive person who takes the medicine indicated by his cardiologist is able to normalize his pressure before suffering a heart attack or stroke, but it is good to follow the doctor's advice daily so as not to take the risk.
How to protect yourself from the heat
To reduce health risks, what you can do to prevent excessive heat is:
- Drink plenty of water or other non-alcoholic liquids; Wear light clothes; Avoid heavy and greasy foods, giving preference to salads and lean meats.
In addition, it is important to take good care of health throughout the year, in order to avoid high blood pressure, diabetes and physical inactivity, which are factors that can trigger serious problems such as heart disease and others.
Against dry weather, what you can do is give preference to fans and avoid air conditioning, which makes the air even drier and put a basin of water close by. Thus the water evaporates little by little and leaves the environment a little more humid, improving breathing.
