January 5, 2010

Signs and Symptoms of Heat Stress

Posted in Category : Natural Cures

Heat stress is the stress that our body goes through due to the different levels of heat in the atmosphere. Usually there are three things in the atmosphere that affect the stress levels of our body – the temperature, the humidity, and the wind. Our body has its own unique way of defending itself from the heat through breathing, sweating, and via the blood flow in a certain manner. Despite this, our body can get over-heated and this leads to heat stress, which then leads to problems like heat strokes, cramps, exhaustion, fainting, and even rashes. The most common heat related problem is heat exhaustion. This happens when you sweat a lot but do not drink enough fluids or increase your in-take of salt to replace what you have lost through sweating. During heat exhaustion you feel weak, tired, and giddy or nauseated, body temperature increases, and skin becomes clammy. To take care of this, immediately go and rest in a cool place, and have a tall glass of cool water with lime juice, salt, and sugar added to it in appropriate proportions. Keep drinking this at regular intervals till you start feeling better.

The other worrying problem is the risk of heat strokes. This happens when the body is not able to regulate its own temperature. In this situation, the body stops sweating and is unable to get rid of the excess heat that has built up in the body. During a heat stroke you will feel nauseated, dizzy, feel like vomiting, and find it difficult to breathe. To take care of this, boil a raw mango, cool it in cold water, remove its pulp, add jaggery, salt, pepper, coriander and cumin seeds to it and blend it into a smoothie. Whenever you feel like, add cool water to this pulpy mixture and drink it. This will effectively take care of all the problems associated with a heat stroke. Then there is the problem of heat cramps. This happens when the lost fluid is replaced in the body, but not the lost salt. This leads to severe muscle cramps. Again, the best thing to have in this situation is lime juice with salt and sugar added to cool water. Adding salt is very necessary. And the most painful of them all is the heat rash. This happens when the atmosphere is very humid and the sweat does not evaporate that easily. To take care of this, wear loose, cotton clothes and have cool baths.