If you’re over 65 – or know someone who is – it’s important to take high temperatures seriously.
We are experiencing the hottest days in history. Heat waves have blanketed the Northern Hemisphere this week, with temperatures reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 degrees Celsius) on three continents.
Extreme heat can be deadly for anyone, but older adults are uniquely vulnerable. In the heat wave that suffocated Europe in the summer of 2022, people age 65 and older accounted for approximately 90 per cent of heat-related deaths.
Experts say that three factors combine to increase older adults’ risk: Biological changes that occur naturally with age, higher rates of age-related chronic diseases and greater use of medications that can alter the body’s response to heat.
Here’s how to gauge the risk for a heat-related illness for you or a loved one and how to stay safe.
HOW HEAT AFFECTS AN AGEING BODY
The human body has two main mechanisms to cool itself: Sweating and increasing blood flow to the skin. In older adults, those processes are compromised – they sweat less and they have poor circulation compared with younger adults.
“Because older individuals are not able to release the heat as well, their core temperature goes up faster and higher,” said Craig Crandall, a professor of internal medicine specialising in thermoregulation at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre. “And we know that core temperature is the primary driver for heat-related injury and death.”
I – Word Understanding
Suffocated – feeling trapped and oppressed.
Gauge – an instrument or device for measuring the magnitude, amount, or contents of something.
II – Have Your Say
1, How does heat affect older people?
2, Why elderly individuals with poor circulation would have a greater risk of suffering heat exhaustion or heatstroke?
3, How do you keep an elderly person safe in heat?
a, Get out of the sun and into a cool, ideally air-conditioned place.
b, Drink fluids but avoid alcohol and caffeine.
c, Shower, bathe, or sponge off with cool water.
d, Lie down and rest.
967 Heat affects older people more – here’s how to stay safe
