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Today goes down as the hottest day of the year, and kids and the elderly are most at risk when the temperatures go up.
Ever heard of the Senior Scoop? It's a publication out of Davis County, and the focus this month is how to beat the heat. We learned why the elderly are so at risk.
Sally Kershisnik, with the Davis County Health Department, said of the elderly, "They do have more chronic illness. They are on more medications. There are also more skin changes in the elderly that occur."
Those are a few of the reasons seniors are so sensitive to the heat, according to Kershisnik. It's not just on triple digit days that the elderly, or anyone, can suffer from the sun, either. Dehydration and prolonged exposure to the sun can stop your brain from regulating the heat control in your body; that's what makes you sick.
"You may get a headache, dizzy, nauseating, maybe some vomiting," Kershisnik said.
It gets worse if you get heat stroke. Kershisnik says, "When your temperature rises so high, sometimes to 105, 106 degrees, it can cause delirium, convulsions and death."
That's why Kershisnik suggests you check on your elderly neighbors or family members on days like today, and take them somewhere air conditioned if they don't already have it in their homes. And if you have a child under four years old, watch them as closely as you would the elderly.
More advice for everyone: wear sunscreen and light colored clothing, and don't rely on your thirst to indicate how much you need to drink. "We should all be drinking about eight glasses of water a day, but in the heat, that amount increases," Kershisnik says.
Tomorrow is going to be another hot one, perhaps even beating out today's high.
E-mail: abutterfield@ksl.com
