The hospital doctors and of the primary care have already warned that this summer there will be a record number of deaths attributable to heat. In fact, they fear that this increased mortality already occurs these days with the entry of hot air mass from Africa. The old people (especially the most vulnerable, who cannot pay the electricity bills to keep the home cool), in general, they are the most exposed. And, specifically, because they don’t sweat.
“The thermoregulation mechanisms of the skin of the elderly do not respond the same as those of a young person, therefore there are less responsiveness” explains the GP Jordi Mestres Lucero, vowel of the Catalan Society of Family and Community Medicine (Camfic). It happens, explains Mestres, both in winter and summer. “In winter they put more coats, but in summer it is more difficult because they don’t generate as much sweat for make up for the temperature rise”. And the body temperature may be high although they do not sweat or feel thirsty.
The “thermoregulatory center”
As explained by the geriatrician and teaching coordinator of the Parc Sanitari Pere Virgili, Neus Gual, The human body is always kept in a temperature between 35 and 37 degrees. This control is done through a “thermoregulatory center” called hypothalamus, which is in the brain. “The hypothalamus activates the heat mechanisms so that the body is always maintained at this temperature, make cold hot”.
The hypothalamus receives the information through the skin and “launch” a series of answers so that the body suits “despite the temperature outside”. when does cold, the hypothalamus gives the order to produce more heat, burning fat. when does heat, try to remove it via “vasodilation” (with sweat through the skin) and the “hyperventilation” (breathing faster).
“In the elderly is response speed to the temperature changes it is slower. The hypothalamus works slower. It also happens with the cold: they have the more atrophied muscles and they are not able to strong tremors to produce heat,” says Gual. Diseases such as dementia they also alter the hypothalamus. Thus, many older people also lose the ability to feel thirsty “That’s why it’s important that they go drinking liquid and eating summer fruit, which has more water,” says Mestres.
diuretic drugs
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In addition, many elderly people often take diuretics, which stimulate the urine output, so it is also “easier” let them dehydrate “Dehydration causes Many admissions to the emergency room. It’s a combo. When the heat comes much more fragile” Gual account.
On the other hand, when they are dehydrated sometimes the ‘delirium’ appears. “Are more confused, HE disorient. dehydration is one of the most frequent causes of ‘delirium'”, says this geriatrician. That is why, she points out, it is “so important” to social support to the elderly, “especially during heat waves.