Heat Stroke

The tiny Chihuahua appeared bloated -- her belly extended, her legs sticking straight out, stiff. Tremors shook her body."We have an emergency -- temperature 105," said the technician, alerting the veterinarian, who was examining a beagle in the next room.The temperature outside 94 degrees -- not that hot for midsummer in Fort Worth, Texas.But the Chihuahua, an indoor pet, had given birth two weeks earlier.The pet was not suffering from heat exhaustion. She had eclampsia, a form of high blood pressure associated with pregnancy.

When Republicans war over people disagreeing with a position supporting their nominee, winning is not uppermost ontheir minds.QCInvest in the stock market! Next best thing to bungee jumping.Slick Willy wants Florida Cubans to think he's enforcing the embargo and the rest of the world to think he's not. It's t'other way round.Atlanta promises the Olympic record for heat stroke. Gold medals for survival.Pub Date: 7/19/96

Hot enough for you? Don't get mad at us; we're as tired of that question as you are.Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are striking people around the country, especially children, the elderly, athletes and people taking certain common medications.If your body were an automobile, you wouldn't get far when the water in your radiator boiled away. Ignore the warning light, and you could easily blow the engine.The body doesn't come with an "idiot light" or a gauge to signal overheating, but overlooking the warning signs of heat exhaustion could lead to a serious medical emergency.

Maryland's tenacious heat wave, which has killed nine people so far, is expected to slog into its record-breaking 22nd day today. And the next few days are expected to bring increasing humidity, escalating the threat to people's health."

The most common time for people to die of heat stroke is in late spring or early summer, when the weather suddenly turns warm. It takes a week of exercising in the heat for your body to acclimate to it. If you try to exercise intensely before your body adjusts to hot weather, you can suffer a heat stroke, which is a sudden uncontrolled rise in body temperature that can cause you to pass out.Your body will give you plenty of warning signs before a heat stroke...

It's not only our lawns that suffer during the summer heat. Each year in the United States, some 4,000 heat-related deaths are reported.As it is possible that we'll experience another heat wave before summer's end, I asked Julius G. K. Goepp, M.D., assistant director of the Pediatric Emergency Department at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, for his advice about coping with the heat.Q: What happens to our bodies when it gets very hot?When the temperature outside is cooler than our body temperature, heat is drawn naturally from the body to the cooler air around it. When outside temperatures are greater than our body temperature, our body heat is dissipated through perspiration.

When you exercise, your body temperature rises because more than 70 percent of the energy that is used to drive your muscles is lost as heat. If your temperature rises too high, you can suffer from heat stroke and pass out.Spring and early summer are the most common times for heat stroke to occur because your body loses some of its ability to dissipate heat during the winter.In colder weather, your body has little trouble dissipating the extra heat. When warm weather arrives, it takes from four to 14 days of exercising in the heat to protect you fromhaving your temperature rise too high.

Grandpa shares his know-howFor grandparents who want to communicate across many miles, here are a lot of ideas from Meyer "Mike" Moldeven, a grandpa who's kept in touch with his grandchildren despite the 1,000 miles that separate them.Moldeven, who lives in Del Mar, Calif., has compiled "A Grandpa's Notebook," 58 pages of ideas and stories to encourage grandparent-grandchild interaction, communications and well-being. "I have been a too-far-away grandparent and have tried to communicate and have succeeded in communicating with my grandchildren," he says.

Yesterday's 100-degree summer blast didn't faze Arnold Williams for a minute. He brought his deck chair to Druid Hill Park, propped his feet up against a white ash tree and watched the traffic roll by."This seemed like a nice thing to do today and it's my favorite spot," said the 52-year-old retired University Hospital worker, who drove to the park from Edmondson Village. "It's shady, there's a breeze and it's open enough that I feel comfortable and safe."In Marble Hill, where neighborhood children splashed around an open fire hydrant at Lanvale and McCulloh streets, Sharon Smith, 30, suddenly found herself part of the fun. She was waiting for her husband to leave work when the youngsters started throwing water.

For years, scientists have disagreed about what causes a healthy, well-trained athlete to pass out suddenly from heat stroke during exercise on a hot day. But recent data show that the cause is a sudden rise in body temperature and not severe dehydration.Almost every time an athlete collapses suddenly in an endurance event, he or she is near the end of the competition, or has just stopped. Sudden collapse rarely occurs during competition. This fact supports the argument for a sudden rise in body temperature:When you exercise, your heart pumps tremendous amounts of blood from your hot, exercising muscles to your skin, where the heat can be dissipated.

It could be a scorcher. While many people might beat the heat this weekend with trips to the beach or a pool - or by simply parking themselves in front of an air conditioner - others might not have any way to cool down. "When it's hot, it can be dangerous," Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon said yesterday as she issued the season's first Code Red heat alert, starting today and lasting at least through Monday. "The goal is simple: to save lives." With temperatures likely to climb well into the 90s this weekend and Monday, the alert mobilizes city agencies to look out for residents who might be isolated and unable to care for themselves if overcome by heat.

Maryland's midsummer slog through simmering heat and soaking humidity dragged on yesterday with only a meager hint of relief in the forecast. "It's a relatively stagnant pattern, with no strong fronts to help alleviate the situation," said meteorologist Francis Kredensor at Penn State Weather Communications in State College, Pa. "It's just the summertime doldrums." We should see more of the same today, with a forecast high around 97 degrees at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Summer means heat, humidity and lots of sweating. It's uncomfortable, but the sweat pouring down your face is actually protecting you from heat stroke and possibly saving your life. Heat stroke, which can progress rapidly, results from your body's inability to cool itself in extremely hot conditions. A lack of fluids can also contribute to its onset. Dr. Bill Zirkin, an emergency medicine physician at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, says "drink more than your thirst would otherwise dictate -- a good guide is for each hour of being outdoors on a hot, humid day, drink 16 ounces -- double that if you are exerting yourself."

When it comes to hot weather, the human body acts remarkably like a home's central air conditioning - complete with a thermostat and cooling mechanism. But extreme conditions can overwhelm that system - resulting in heat exhaustion, heat stroke and death. "You get hot and the mechanisms you use to regulate that heat go haywire," said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore's health commissioner, who declared a Code Red heat alert yesterday. To avoid heat-related illness, experts recommend drinking plenty of fluids, finding a cool place indoors and avoiding overexertion.

With hot weather finally descending on the region, Maryland health officials are warning residents to guard against the sometimes-fatal consequences of heat. Their recommendations include drinking plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration, curbing alcohol consumption and wearing loose-fitting and light-colored clothes. The state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene suggests reducing the time spent in direct sunlight and taking breaks while working or exercising outside. Though no one has died of heat-related illness this year, the medical examiner's office blamed 42 deaths on last summer's brutally hot weather.

FORT LAUDERALE, Fla. -- Nothing could have prepared Orioles manager Mike Hargrove for the news that pitching prospect Steve Bechler had died of a heat stroke yesterday morning, not even the tragedy Hargrove experienced at spring training 10 years ago. Hargrove was entering his third season managing the Cleveland Indians on March 22, 1993, when three of his team's pitchers were involved in a boat crash on Little Lake Nellie, about 25 miles west of Orlando....

In the heat of the summer, you do several things to keep your internal temperature from rising dangerously high. You rest, drink fluids and seek air conditioning. And you sweat, a process that turns your skin into a natural air conditioner. But the athlete who works too hard, doesn't drink enough fluids or plays out of shape on a hot, humid day runs the risk of heat stroke - a condition in which the body's temperature spirals out of control. "The body is working as hard as it can to keep temperature under control," said Dr. Brian Browne, chief of emergency medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Watch for signs of heat stroke, which is life-threatening and can occur with any outdoor activity in extreme heat. Heat stroke means the body's temperature-control system, which causes perspiration to cool the body, stops working, causing a person's temperature to rise. Brain damage or death can occur. Symptoms: Hot, red and dry skin; changes in consciousness; rapid, weak pulse; and rapid, shallow breathing. What to do: Call 911. Move the person to a cooler place, and make sure he or she is kept lying down.

Overexertion in extreme heat, especially without constant intake of water, can be life threatening. Heat plus humidity is bad enough; add direct sun, and things can worsen quickly. Maladies to watch for: Heat cramps: Muscular pain, usually involving the abdominal or leg muscles. Symptoms: You'll know; cramps hurt. Heat exhaustion: A form of shock sometimes compounded by clothing that prevents the body from cooling normally. Fluid loss that decreases blood flow to vital organs causes the problem.

The tiny Chihuahua appeared bloated -- her belly extended, her legs sticking straight out, stiff. Tremors shook her body."We have an emergency -- temperature 105," said the technician, alerting the veterinarian, who was examining a beagle in the next room.The temperature outside 94 degrees -- not that hot for midsummer in Fort Worth, Texas.But the Chihuahua, an indoor pet, had given birth two weeks earlier.The pet was not suffering from heat exhaustion. She had eclampsia, a form of high blood pressure associated with pregnancy.