What can you do to protect yourself during extreme heat and heatwaves?

 What can you do to protect yourself during extreme heat and heatwaves?

Everyone has tips on how to stay cool during a heat wave or extreme heat. But what tips are backed up by science during the hottest days of the year?

Cold drinks or hot tea?

More water and other drinks are the right decision during heat wave. By doing this we can compensate for the lack of water in the body and save our kidneys. But the debate continues whether to drink cold drinks or tea coffee.

The theory behind the suggestion of drinking hot drinks is that it temporarily warms your body from the inside. You sweat more and it cools down the body. It is considered a good tip to lower the body temperature.

But if sweat is not replaced and fluids are not absorbed into the body, your body can become dehydrated. Therefore, some people advise to avoid hot drinks altogether.

Some experts say you shouldn't drink too much tea or coffee because some of them contain caffeine, which causes dehydration. But there is little evidence that moderate amounts of caffeine cause excessive urination.

However, cold drinks have been found to be better in some studies. 

The volunteers were given rectal thermometers. According to Ollie Jay, a professor at the University of Ottawa, cold drinks go straight into the stomach, not far from a rectal thermometer. Therefore, it is not surprising that the temperature is found to be low.

When his team measured the temperature of different parts of the body using eight thermometers, they found that hot drinks made the body cooler because, as predicted, it sweated more.

That's why experts believe that hot drinks instead of cold ones make you sweat more and lower body temperature.

How much does a fan matter?

The wind of the fan often calms us down. But fans do not cool the air. By their movement, air circulates and sweat dries, which lowers the body temperature.

Experts are divided on the usefulness of feathers. According to some they are helpful, but others say that it is not possible to cool the body with them when the temperature is high enough.

It is generally considered that fans are effective up to 35 degrees Celsius. At higher temperatures (such as 37 degrees Celsius in some studies), the hot air from the fan becomes a barrier to the body's autonomic systems. In extreme cases, people may also develop heat stroke. Keeping the fan running in hot weather can increase dehydration in the body.

Fans are less efficient in humid weather. The fans allow air to circulate, but the moisture in the air makes it difficult for sweat to dry.

Until more research is done, it's hard to say how effective fans are in extreme heat. Therefore, some experts suggest that fans should be turned off when the temperature exceeds 37 degrees Celsius.

Only the elderly are at risk from extreme heat?

It is true that most elderly patients are admitted to the hospital during a heat wave.

According to experts, the body can perform better if the temperature is between 36 and 37.5 degrees Celsius. The skin, deep tissue and organs in the body can also detect a change of one degree Celsius. If the outside temperature is higher than our body temperature, we sweat to keep the body cool.

Our bodies also release heat by sending more blood to the hands and feet. That is why we feel hot at night. In extreme heat, the role of the heart increases in both these methods of keeping the temperature low. That's why sometimes elderly people are affected by heart attack or heart failure in such weather. In contrast to the health effects of a severe cold wave, during a heat wave there may be more deaths in the first 24 hours.

Elderly people find it difficult to lower their body temperature in extreme heat and they don't even realize that their body temperature is constantly rising. Therefore, they may become dehydrated more quickly than young adults.

This does not mean that only the elderly are at risk from heat waves. Newborn babies and people suffering from various disorders can also be affected by it.

For example, problems can arise for people with walking difficulties as it may be difficult for them to open a window or manage water and drinks when sweating. It can be difficult for the body to reduce the temperature even if the intensity of heat is high day and night.

That is, it can be said that there is a need to take care of other people along with the elderly.

Open all windows?

When it's hot, the first thing most of us do is open all the windows. But it can also have negative effects during daytime.

You should only open windows when the air outside is colder than the air inside. In very hot weather you should keep the windows closed during the day as the shade inside increases the chances of the indoor air being cooler. In case of hot air, your body cannot cool down and pollen allergy can also occur from this air.

That is, if the air outside is hotter than the air inside, keep the windows closed. This can be done at night when the weather improves.

Drinking beer during a heat wave?

In the 1958 film Ice Cold in Elks, Sir John Mills' character drinks a cold beer after escaping the desert heat. When they return, they are served lager in a glass. "It was worth the wait,