7-22-08

Seniors and Hot Weather

Senior citizens need to take special precautions to avoid overheating in hot summer temperatures.

The hot, humid weather is hard on everyone, but it is especially hard on senior citizens.  Dr. Amber Barnhart, associate professor of family and community medicine at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield, explains why hot weather can be harmful to the elderly.

SOUND BITE: “ . . . older people do not sweat as easily as younger people do.  They also may not realize when they’re getting hot, blood pressure may not change, pulse may not change, they may not feel the heat.  So they are at risk to actually overheat and then again they don’t handle that as well as when they were younger.”

Dr. Barnhart says to help seniors stay cool, they can apply cold wash cloths on various parts of their body, stay in the shade, use fans and air conditioning, and drink plenty of fluids.  If their home is not air conditioned, they should go to a mall, a cooling center, or a friend or family member’s home that has air conditioning.  She describes some symptoms of overheating.

SOUND BITE:  “The biggest concern that we have with anybody, including seniors in the hot weather, is being hyperthermic or just too hot.  The body temperature itself is too hot.  And normally people who have that get kind of confused, can have seizures, often have nausea, vomiting and just don’t seem like themselves and often feel hot.” 

Dr. Barnhart reminds family members and friends to check on seniors, even several times a day, to make sure they are okay.  If a senior experiences headaches, light-headedness or nausea, and has a high body temperature, they should be taken quickly to a primary care physician or hospital emergency department.  

This is Ruth Slottag at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield.