Heat illness

This article is about heat-related illness. For overheating of the body, see Hyperthermia.
"Calenture" redirects here. For the album by The Triffids, see Calenture (album).
"Sunstroke" redirects here. For other uses, see Sunstroke (disambiguation).
Heat exhaustion
Classification and external resources
Specialty emergency medicine
ICD-10 T67.3- T67.5
ICD-9-CM 992.3-992.5
DiseasesDB 5690
eMedicine emerg/236
MeSH D006359

Heat illness or heat-related illness is a spectrum of disorders due to environmental exposure to heat. It includes minor conditions such as heat cramps, heat syncope, and heat exhaustion as well as the more severe condition known as heat stroke.[1]

Classification

A number of heat illnesses exist including:[2][3]

Prevention

Prevention includes avoiding medications that can increase the risk of heat illness (e.g. antihypertensives, diuretics, and anticholinergics), gradual adjustment to heat, and sufficient fluids and electrolytes.[5][6]

Treatment

Mild disease can be treated with fluids by mouth. In more significant disease spraying with mist and using a fan is useful. For those with severe disease putting them in lukewarm water is recommended if possible with transport to a hospital.[5]

Epidemiology

Between 1999 and 2003, the US had a total of 3442 deaths from heat illness. Those who work outdoors are at particular risk for heat illness, though those who work in poorly-cooled spaces indoors are also at risk. Between 1992 and 2006, 423 workers died from heat illness in the US.[6]

History

Heat illness used to be blamed on a tropical fever named calenture.[7]

References

  1. Lugo-Amador, Nannette M; Rothenhaus, Todd; Moyer, Peter (2004). "Heat-related illness". Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America 22 (2): 315–27, viii. doi:10.1016/j.emc.2004.01.004. PMID 15163570.
  2. Tintinalli, Judith (2004). Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 1186. ISBN 0-07-138875-3.
  3. "Heat Illness: MedlinePlus". Nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2014-07-10.
  4. Archived July 21, 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  5. 1 2 Lipman, GS; Eifling, KP; Ellis, MA; Gaudio, FG; Otten, EM; Grissom, CK; Wilderness Medical, Society (December 2013). "Wilderness Medical Society practice guidelines for the prevention and treatment of heat-related illness.". Wilderness & environmental medicine 24 (4): 351–61. doi:10.1016/j.wem.2013.07.004. PMID 24140191.
  6. 1 2 Jacklitsch, Brenda L. (June 29, 2011). "Summer Heat Can Be Deadly for Outdoor Workers". NIOSH: Workplace Safety and Health. Medscape and NIOSH.
  7. "Calenture: the free dictionary". thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved 2016-01-26.

External links

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