90-Degrees Plus Over 4th, Drink Lots Of Water

With 4th of July activities heating up and another wave of 90-degree weather arriving, a local expert said you need to pace yourself.

Dr. Samantha McClerran from the Cookeville Regional Medical Center Emergency Department said heat and humidity give us the most trouble. McClerran said they see a variety of heat-related conditions in the emergency room.

“Typically for us, it is heat exhaustion,” McClerran said. “The more worrisome one is a heat stroke, but we are blessed that, that is a less common complaint. Typically we see dehydration and heat exhaustion.”

McClerran said drinking plenty of water and relaxing in cooler areas are ways to combat mild cases of heat exhaustion. She said alcohol can impact a person’s ability to know if they are getting overheated. Soft drinks, sweet tea, coffee, and alcohol can do more harm than good as they cause you to urinate more.

McClerran said drinking energy drinks is not the same as drinking water.

“Water is a major component of the human body and we really need to replace our what’s called insensible water losses with water,” McClerran said.

A person’s medical condition and age can factor into determining the risk level of heat exhaustion and heat strokes. McClerran said most people that experience heat exhaustion are not even exercising but simply just sitting outside.

“As we get more mature, we do not have the same responses to heat and cold,” McClerran said. “And we don’t have the same drive to drink water and it takes very little to get into heat exhaustion.”

Wearing the right sun protection is also key this week. McClerran said sunburn can lead to skin cancer, but in the short term, it can increase the risk of heat exhaustion.

“You are losing your skins protective barrier and increase your water losses,” McClerran said. “Our skin is our body’s major ability to hold in water so when we have a burn we are losing more water, plus it’s painful, you get blisters, you increase risk for infection, and you are adding all those things to the other issues of becoming hot.”

With Independence Day approaching, McClerran said the best thing to do to protect yourself from the heat is to be responsible and informed.