Heat stroke: symptoms to watch for, how to prevent, and what you can do when it occurs

We're at peak summer and it's not showing any signs of letting up any time soon. With soaring temperatures, illnesses like heat stroke, heat exhaustion, dehydration, and the like become a very real threat.

On "Unang Hirit" Monday, primary care physician and licensed physical therapist Dr. Lyien Patricia Pascual explained these illnesses should not be dismissed, especially heat stroke.

According to Pascual, heat stroke is a life-threatening emergency that occurs when a person is exposed to high temperature. "Nagkakaroon ng temperature greater than 40C. Nagkakaroon ng overheat and hindi nakaka-adjust yung katawan ng tao sa taas ng temperature," she said.

Among the symptoms of heat stroke include: headache, dizziness, skin that is hot to touch, and severe dehydration, which actually manifests as being unable to sweat.

Unlike heat exhaustion, heat stroke comes with "neurologic symptoms, where the patient has confusion, pagkabalisa, and loss of consciousness."

According to Pascal, elder people greater than 65 years old, and children between 0-4 years old are the most prone to heat exhaustion. "Hirap kasi sila mag-regulate ng body temperature," she explains.

Along with the very old and the very young, people who are overweight, obese, and with comorbidities are also prone to heat stroke.

While sweating is good — sweating is the body's cooling mechanism, the doctor explains —  when it is accompanied by the aforementioned symptoms, then you must look out for heat stroke. Drink cold beverages to prevent severe dehydration, she suggests.

If you have cold compress on the ready, apply that to the head, neck, underarms or the groin area, and transfer the patient to a shady area, before calling an emergency medical response.

When the patient is unconscious, call an emergency medical response unit asap. If you know how to administer CPR, please do that immediately. — LA, GMA Integrated News