Whats the Difference Between Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke? What are the Warning Signs?
SLU Physician Gives Tips on Avoiding Heat-Related Health Problems No one’s immune to heat exhaustion. That’s worth keeping in mind as the dog days of summer continue. What is heat exhaustion? “It’s what happens when your heart and vascular system — the system that keeps your blood circulating — fail to respond properly to high outside temperatures,” said Mark Mengel, M.D., chair of the department of community and family medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. “It can happen to anyone, but older folks, those on medication to counteract water retention, or some other heart or psychiatric medication, are especially vulnerable. It is often associated with failure to drink sufficient clear fluid – namely water – to keep the system in balance under conditions of high heat.” Heat exhaustion is sometimes confused with heat stroke. They are not the same. While heat exhaustion is serious, heat stroke can be life-threatening. In heat stroke, body temperature can reach as high as
