Health care
BY ELISABETH JIMENEZ
With Texas heat and humidity, people with diabetes can struggle to cool down, facing a greater chance of experiencing heat-related illnesses, experts have found. For a person without medical problems, the body Diabetic people face health risks with Texas heat
adapts to heat through sweat production and blood vessels, said Dr. Natalie Williams, family medicine doctor at Austin Regional Clinic. Sweat, which contains salt and water from the body, comes up to the skin, gets evaporated and helps the body cool down. Blood vessels can expand or shrink to disperse heat throughout the body, such as bringing the heat up to the skin instead of keeping the heat internally. However, because people with diabetes have excess sugar in their blood, that can disrupt the body’s natural cool-down mechanisms, Williams said. People with diabetes are more likely to get dehydrated because of the excess sugar, creating
a lack of water in the body needed for sweat production. Additionally, some people with diabetes can have damaged blood vessels, preventing them from effectively cooling down, she said.
“Heat stroke is very dangerous, and so the hope is to not ever get to heat exhaustion
if we can because heat stroke is the next step.” DR. NATALIE WILLIAMS, AUSTIN REGIONAL CLINIC
The risks
Handling heat
These struggles with regulating body tempera- ture and dehydration can lead to greater risks of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, she said. Williams said that she anticipates an increased risk for heat-related illnesses in the coming sum- mer months. She said last year she and the ARC medical staff saw cases of “very bad dehydration,” including in nondiabetic patients. So far this year, Austin has seen above average temperatures since January and below average precipitation, data from the NWS shows. For the June to August months, NWS is predicting temperatures will be above normal, according to a NWS forecast issued May 15. “If you are in the middle of downtown or you’re going to be on the east side, there’s not as much shade as there would be,” she said. “If you’re in the middle of Zilker [Park], it’s hard to get to an AC, but there’s plenty of space for shade.”
Williams said that diabetic patients should be mindful of how heat can affect medicine and equipment. She said some medicines such as insulin are heat-sensitive and can lose effectiveness when exposed to heat. Equipment such as pumps, monitors and glucose test strips can be damaged by heat. Glucose test strips can also go bad in the sunlight. Williams recommends talking with a doctor to understand individual heat-related risks. “Have conversations with your doctor about how to take care of yourself in the heat because every condition has something else that you may need to keep an eye on,” she said. Checking the heat index, which measures temperature and humidity, is a way to prepare for the day, Williams said.
Williams said both diabetic and nondiabetic people can deal with high temperatures in a variety of ways, including:
Working out in the morning
Avoiding sugary and caffeinated drinks
Checking the heat index
Wearing loose, light- colored clothing
Ensuring access to shade or air conditioning
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