Treatment Of Hyperthermia

Heat stroke is a familiar word to many, but fewer know how it should be treated and what things can cause it. Before we go into details regarding the classification and treatment of heat stroke, it should be emphasized that in order to treat it, one must always find out what is causing it. The treatment of heat stroke should be based on the type of hyperthermia.

Of course, in the event of a heat stroke, it is also important to be aware of what is actually going on during an excessive body heat rise. In order to be able to treat a person with heat stroke in an appropriate way in the event of an accident, follow the advice below.

What causes heat stroke and what happens in the body then?

Hyperthermia, or colloquial heat stroke, is a condition that causes a variety of symptoms due to excessive heat. It is a disorder in the regulation of body temperature. Symptoms begin when the body temperature rises to 39-40 degrees.

This is not the same thing as high fever. These are different concepts because a fever is a reaction of the body to a disease and it is a reaction of the immune system. Fever is thus a reaction to some external, harmful factor.

Causes of hyperthermia

Hyperthermia usually occurs when the mechanisms that protect the body do not work due to the high heat of the environment.

Regarding classification, it is important to know, first of all, that a person may have so-called primary hyperthermia due to exposure to extremely high temperatures, and in the case of secondary hyperthermia, it is due to a patient’s previous illness.

In general, it can be said that hyperthermia has many causes. One of these is that the body can produce too much heat on its own. This problem may be due to a disturbance in the mechanisms that regulate body temperature.

In addition, the phenomenon may be caused by the ambient temperature being too high for too long. In this case, even if the body’s thermoregulatory mechanisms (such as sweat excretion) work properly, it may not be possible for a person to release heat in the body into the environment.

One cause may be a side effect resulting from the use of certain medications. These products include, but are not limited to:

• All drugs that affect the body’s regulation of temperature, such as corticosteroids and sympathomimetics.
• Drugs that damage or alter the activity of tissues that support body temperature regulation. One example of this is the drugs used in anesthesia.

Hyperthermia can also occur due to some metabolic or nutritional problems, as well as any injury to the human central nervous system.

Symptoms of hyperthermia

If the hyperthermia is due to excessive physical exertion in an excessively hot environment, and if the person is sweating too much, he or she may experience muscle contractions, headaches, dizziness, nausea, and exhaustion.

Even if a patient with hyperthermia did not engage in physical exertion, he or she may still suffer from nausea and vomiting. In addition, recurrent headaches, myalgia, and mood swings may occur.

Some other changes in the body can also be noticed. Tachycardia and hypotension are common symptoms in addition to the above.

The patient also experiences skin changes. When the skin is weaker than usual due to heat, it usually becomes pale, cold and sweaty, but when a person experiences heat stroke, his skin is red and hot. Drought is usually a constant symptom of heat stroke.

Treatment of heat stroke in different situations

Treatment requires the use of cold compresses or a cold bath to lower the patient’s body temperature.

As already mentioned at the beginning of the text, choosing the right type of treatment to relieve heat stroke requires first determining the cause of the condition.

If the hyperthermia is caused by the heat of the environment, the treatment involves two stages. First, the body temperature needs to be lowered, and then treatment for the complications caused by the condition is needed.

As for the first step, it is best to use cold compresses constantly . This can be accomplished by immersing the fabric in cold water and then wrapping it around the patient, placing the patient in a cold water tub, or searching for a cooler place (inside the air conditioner).

If the hyperthermia is caused by the use of drugs, the treatment of heat stroke then consists of several stages.

First, the patient should see a doctor, who will then recommend stopping the medications that are causing that harmful condition in the body.

Your doctor should also perform haemodynamic and analytical monitoring and help to correct any changes in your body. If necessary, the doctor may need to use oxygen therapy on the patient.

In other situations, the doctor may give the patient a medicine called dantrolene to relax the muscles.

It should also be mentioned that if the hyperthermia is caused by too much physical exertion, it is, of course, necessary to stop the exertion or exercise. The patient should rest in a cool place and enjoy plenty of cool drinks.