Heat stroke is a serious threat to human beings. With our modern architecture, air-conditioning is crucial, and power outages can be deadly. A heat wave in Europe killed 30,000 people in 2003. And it's not just the elderly an infirm who are at risk. Heat stroke is the third-leading cause of death among high school athletes. So we all need to learn the signs of heat stroke and take precautions.
An average-size male at rest generates about as much heat as a 100-watt light bulb simply through metabolism. During moderate exercise, temperature increases nearly ten degrees every hour unless you cool yourself by sweating or some other means. You risk a variety of illnesses, starting with heat edema, which entails swelling of the hands and feet and can begin at body temperatures close to normal. No precise temperature marks the onset of the various other heat illnesses, and the order of symptoms varies between individuals, but they may include heat syncope (dizziness and fainting from the dilation of blood vessels), heat cramps (muscular clenching due to low salt), and heat exhaustion (identified by muscular weakness, rapid heartbeat, nausea, headache, and possible vomiting and diarrhea). Finally, an internal temperature of 105 marks the lower boundary of heatstroke territory, with outward symptoms of extreme irritability, delirium, and convulsion. Because of individual variation in how these symptoms appear, and because some may not appear at all, athletes in particular can be overcome quickly and with little warning.
An article at Outside Online follows a (we hope fictional) victim of heat stroke, and gives us the information we need about the condition. -via Digg
(Image credit: Ben Beiske/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)