An extreme sensitivity to heat is called heat intolerance. People who are sensitive to heat may experience hotness whereas others may be at ease or even chilled. Additionally, they could react to heat in an odd way, such as with anxiety or heavy sweating. Heat intolerance is not a sickness, but it can be a sign of another health condition.
Heat intolerance makes people more susceptible to extreme temperatures. The term “heat intolerance” refers to a broad range of reactions to heat.
Some individuals who have heat intolerance merely detest the heat. At temperatures that other people find comfortable, some feel uncomfortable due to the heat. In response to heat, some people may experience severe, sometimes fatal symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) estimates that each year more than 600 Americans pass away in the United States as a result of heat-related disorders such heat stroke. In particular, those who have additional risk factors for illnesses caused by excessive heat should exercise caution if they have a heat intolerance.
What Factors can cause Heat Intolerance?
Numerous factors may contribute to heat intolerance;
1. Medication
Medication is one of the most typical contributors to heat intolerance. Among the most popular are drugs for blood pressure, allergies, and decongestants. The ability of your body to cool itself can be hampered by allergy drugs that stop you from sweating. The blood flow to your skin may be decreased by blood pressure medicines and decongestants. This also prevents sweat from forming. Decongestants may result in increased muscle activity, which may lead to an increase in body temperature.
2. Caffeine
As a stimulant, caffeine can raise your heart rate and quicken your metabolism. Your body temperature may increase as a result, developing heat intolerance.
3. Hyperthyroidism
When your thyroid produces too much of the hormone thyroxine, hyperthyroidism develops. Your body’s metabolism is regulated in part by thyroxine. Your body’s metabolism may speed up as a result of having too much of this hormone, which will raise your body temperature. The most typical cause of hyperthyroidism is Graves’ disease. The thyroid gland overproduces thyroid hormone as a result of an autoimmune disease.
4. Multiple Sclerosis
The central nervous system is affected by the autoimmune disease known as multiple sclerosis (MS). The brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system. This illness affects the protective covering, or myelin, of the nerves of your central nervous system. If your myelin is damaged, your body’s nerve signals become interrupted. This condition can lead to heat intolerance.
Symptoms
Depending on the individual, heat intolerance symptoms might include any or all of the following:
- Feeling incredibly overheated in temperatures that are only mildly warm.
- Excessive perspiration.
- Insufficient sweating in the heat.
- Tiredness and exhaustion in warm weather.
- Heat-related nausea, vomiting, or lightheadedness.
- Changes in mood when too hot.
People who have specific chronic illnesses, such as MS, may discover that the heat momentarily makes their symptoms worse. Some people with heat intolerance are also cold intolerant.
Possible Side Effects of Heat Intolerance
Heat intolerance might impair eyesight if you have MS. This may cause temporary blindness or blurred vision. In MS patients, a rise in body temperature enhances the distorted nerve signals. Uhthoff’s phenomena is the name given to this. This brief worsening of symptoms is temporary. Usually, cooling off will make it go away.
Under extreme conditions, heat exhaustion from heat intolerance may occur. Heat exhaustion signs and symptoms include:
- Confusion
- Loss of consciousness
- Vomiting
- Muscle cramps
- Body temperature of 104ºF (40ºC) or higher
- Elevated heart rate
- Rapid breathing
Seek emergency medical assistance if you encounter these symptoms in addition to heat intolerance. If heat exhaustion is not treated, it might develop into heatstroke. This might be deadly.
Management
People who have a heat intolerance should talk to a doctor about their symptoms, especially if they arise unexpectedly or get worse over time. Doctors will concentrate on curing any underlying medical issues before treating heat intolerance. Depending on the underlying illness, there will be a wide range of treatments. For instance, radioiodine therapy may be necessary for patients with Graves’ disease to restore normal thyroid levels.
Heat intolerance is frequently neither totally avoidable nor fully cured. Regardless of the course of therapy, a person with a spinal cord injury may experience difficulties in high temperatures. Long-term benefits may come from adopting measures for appropriately regulating any time spent in hot settings and avoiding heat when possible.
Managing Heat Intolerance involves:
- Avoiding the sun’s direct rays. Between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., the sun is typically at its warmest and brightest.
- use a fan or air conditioning throughout the summer.
- Consuming a lot of liquids to prevent dehydration.
- Wearing loose-fitting, light-colored apparel.
- Avoiding alcohol in hot weather.
- Swimming in a pool or taking a refreshing bath.
- Wrapping a towel soaked in cold water around the back of the neck.
- Avoiding intensive activity in warm environments or during the summer.
Seek emergency medical help for:
- An inability to perspire, especially in hot conditions
- Body temperature greater than 103°F
- Confusion
- Loss of consciousness
Prevention
- A person’s risk of heat sensitivity can be decreased by regular exercise.
- Taking care of health issues that contribute to heat intolerance can help prevent symptoms.
- Ask a doctor if there are any medications that can help the body regulate its temperature and discuss how to be safe in the heat.
The following are some methods for lowering the chance of heat intolerance:
- Preserving a healthy weight: People who are heavier may have more trouble cooling off.
- Getting lots of exercise to keep your body in shape: People who have healthy hearts and lungs typically adapt to the heat better.
- Limiting or abstaining from drug and alcohol use: Overindulging in alcohol and abusing certain substances, including amphetamines, might make you more sensitive to heat.
- Regulating blood sugar levels: Diabetes patients may be more sensitive to the heat, particularly if their blood sugar levels are abnormally low or high.
In conclusion, heat intolerance might reveal information about a person’s general health. The body may not be able to cool itself down adequately, the brain may not be responding to heat appropriately, or the heart and lungs may be battling to function as effectively as they should.
Anyone who is becoming more or less tolerant to the heat should see a doctor, who can assist identify the underlying cause.