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3 Health Problems Specific to Summer Times

Summer isn’t all fun and games. When temperatures are rising and the sun gets more powerful by the minute, health problems can occur and vacations can be ruined. However, you can prevent this from happening by following some general rules that can keep you away from heat-strokes, food poisonings and sunburns.

Heat-stroke

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Normally, your body has it’s natural mechanisms of adapting to high exterior temperatures, by trying to keep a constant internal temperature. However, when your body is overexposed to sun, this adaptability capacity might not work anymore. Children, aged and overweight persons are more likely to run the risk of heat-strokes. Moreover, intense physical activity, high humidity and dehydration can increase the chances of having a heat-stroke.

Symptoms

The heat-stroke begins with a body temperature increase to 37C, headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, tachycardia (increased heart rate), low blood pressure, muscle cramps, tiredness and weakness.

What to do?

If you have these symptoms, you should stop any activity and relax in a cool environment, by rising your feet, in order for the blood to come back to your body. In order to quickly cool down, you can use cold compresses with ice, placed on the abdomen and on your armpits. Rehydration is also important, in order to replace the fluids and minerals lost through transpiration. You should consume 1.5 -2 liters of cold fluids every 2-4 hours. Finally, the heat-stroke will be gone after 24-36 hours of relaxation.  

If body temperature reached 40C and all the symptoms are taken to extremes, a doctor should contacted.

Food poisoning

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    Summer is the time when food poisoning can be a frequently encountered health problem because food doesn’t usually react well when temperature is rising. Well, some foods, such as, eggs, milk, cheese, meat (mostly fish meat) etc. The thing is that during heated summer days, microorganisms spread very fast in perishable food. Those who consume food bought from street vendors that isn’t kept in good conditions are mostly exposed to the risk of food poisoning.

Symptoms

The main symptoms of food poisoning are: diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The intensity of these symptoms can vary from case to case, depending on age, physical state, health state and the main microorganism that caused the poising. Moreover, if you experience severe dehydration, muscular weakness, fainting sensation, you should definitely contact a doctor.

What can you do?

You can firstly prevent it. You should make sure that the product isn’t expired and doesn’t have a strange color or smell. Moreover, you can avoid buying meat that isn’t refrigerated and keep the perishable food in the fridge as most as possible. Furthermore, food prepared for consumption should be carefully washed up.

If you have food poisoning and your state doesn’t require the assistance of a doctor, you can change your nutrition for a couple of days: 2-3 cups of mint tea a day, rice with carrots, fresh cheese etc. You should avoid drinking energizers, acid drinks or fruit juices.

Sun burning

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Having a beautiful sun tan may also come at a price, as there are many cases when people can suffer from sunburn because of overexposure to the sun. People that have darker skin color are mostly protected from solar burns, but those that have a lighter skin can suffer the consequences of exposing to UVs in the middle of the day, that means:

Symptoms

Irritation of skin, local temperature increase and swelling of the skin.

What do to?

Of course, preventing sun burns is better than treating them. First of all, sun exposure should be limited between 11 and 16h. Skin protection can be achieved by simply applying sunscreen and also having by your side an umbrella, a hat and proper clothing, which is made from a light color thin material.

If you experience a mild sun burn, you can use a softening cream that can cool you skin down. If the sun burn is taken to a higher level, you should apply cold compresses and corticosteroid creams. Moreover, you can take anti-inflammatory pills, such as aspirin, that can ameliorate symptoms. Not to mention the fact that you should drink a lot of fluids in order to prevent dehydration.

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