This article is a must read if you live in a place with severe summers. All the others read this article for the sake of awareness. One never knows, your work might take you to a place with severe summers. Anything in excess is bad for health. Exposure to sun is no exception. Our body, a miracle designed by the supreme force called God is designed to take a certain amount of abuse read stress. But when it crosses the limits, even the body crumbles and reacts in an unfavourable manner. This is called heatstroke and in medical terms, hyperthermia. Hyperthermia may also be artificially induced for medical reasons like treatment of cancer etc but this done under controlled conditions. In this article, we discuss what heatstroke is, its causes and symptoms briefly before going to the home remedies for heatstroke.

What is heatstroke?

Put in simple words, heatstroke is the body’s reaction to severe heat conditions. When working under the sun for too long especially at peak summers in the noon time, your body has lost all its liquids in sweating. Sweating is the mechanism by which the body maintains the body temperature. When all the liquids are lost, one cannot sweat and the body temperature shoots up. As this is not normal, the body sends out signals for help! These signals are called symptoms which we discuss next.

Symptoms for heatstroke

Red or flushed skin, absence of sweating, rapid pulse, difficulty in breathing, confusion and hallucination, disorientation, seizure and in extreme cases, coma are some of the symptoms of a heatstroke. Fainting or dizziness may be caused to the dehydration. Blood pressure may also drop to an extent. Due to the drop in the blood pressure, the red blood cells will contract resulting in an appearance of a pale blue colour. Convulsions or trembling due to chills immediately following a heatstroke is also common. All these symptoms are telltale signals demanding immediate medical attention.

Effective Home Remedies for Heatstroke

Heatstroke treatment - When the victim begins to show symptoms, move him to a cooler area first. After this is done, all possible attempts to cool his body thereby bringing it back to body temperature must be done. Some common methods of doing this are bathing him in cool water if it is available. Remove his clothing to allow faster evaporation. Wipe him with a wet cloth. The moisture in the cloth will absorb the heat. Fan him to bring down the temperature. Ideally, the victim should be immersed in a bath tub filled with cool water. This is not practiced too often because the victim is unconscious most of the time and may suffer from hypothermia (extremely low body temperature) resulting in further danger.

Preventive Home Remedies for Heatstroke

Heatstroke can be prevented if certain measures are taken. One must remember that during summers, the external temperature is more. The body must work harder to keep itself at optimum temperature. Since sweating is the only mechanism by which it does this, drink lots of fluids during this time. This is one of the best heatstroke cure. Water is the best fluid that will avoid a heatstroke. Heatstroke is not genetic or hereditary. It is a temperature induced condition and can be easily prevented. Avoid excess alcohol, fruit drinks, coffee and tea for the diuretic effect that they produce may use more liquids in the body instead of producing them.

Wear a hat with small pores in them if you have to work in the sun. The pores in the hat will help sweat evaporate from the head better. Never put in arduous hours in the sun. Take a break to replace the fluids lost in sweating with water. Don’t wait to feel thirsty. On a hot day, it is advisable to drink a minimum of twelve glasses of water. This is also one of the useful natural remedy for heatstroke. People who suffer from heart, lung or kidney disorders are advised to stay away from the sun. These people are more susceptible to a heat stroke.