Category: heat stroke

What Are the Symptoms of Heat Stroke, and Can Eating Watermelon Prevent It ?

Summer heat makes people’s body temperatures rise. The body automatically triggers certain functions to keep cool, such as increasing sweating and breathing. However, heat stroke may result when the ambient temperature is too high and physiological self-adjustments fail to control body temperature. So how do we know if heat stroke is imminent? And how can…


Heat Stroke: A Doctor Offers Tips to Stay Safe as Temperatures Soar

I easily remember laughing at Wile E. Coyote trying to catch the Road Runner while watching Saturday morning cartoons as a child. I can still see Coyote walking slowly through the sweltering desert, sun high in the sky, sweating, tongue hanging out, about to collapse from heat, hunger, and thirst. Then, BEEP! BEEP! The Road…


California Hiker Dies in Death Valley, Heatstroke Suspected

DEATH VALLEY, Calif.—A San Francisco man died while hiking in Death Valley National Park, authorities said Saturday. Lawrence Stanback, 60, died Wednesday while hiking near Red Cathedral along the Golden Canyon Trail, according to a joint statement from the park and the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office. That day temperatures reached 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 Celsius)….


Tips for Preventing Heatstroke

As a primary care physician who often treats patients with heat-related illnesses, I know all too well how heatwaves create spikes in hospitalizations and deaths related to “severe nonexertional hyperthermia,” or what most people call “heatstroke.” Heatstroke is when a person’s core body temperature rises too high—often more than 104 degrees F (40 C)—because high…