PHOENIX — As we all continue to protect ourselves in the heatwave, doctors are also warning us to be mindful of the medications we’re taking. Certain medications can change your body’s response to external stressors, such as heat, making you more susceptible to heat-related illnesses.
This warning comes from the new Health and Pharmaceuticals Task Force at the University of Arizona Zuckerman School of Public Health.
Prescriptions to watch out for in this heat include diuretics, which can increase urination and cause water loss.
Heart and blood pressure medications, over-the-counter allergy relievers, and some mental health medications can alter your ability to sweat and cool your body temperature.
Opiates and painkillers can impair your decision-making ability and affect your ability to spend long periods outdoors in the heat.
Emergency physician Dr. Brian Drummond frequently sees patients who end up in the hospital suffering from heat stroke.
“Heat is a significant component of the strain we currently see on our health care system,” said Dr. Brian Drummond, professor of medicine and member of the task force. “This combined with the fact that I simply stayed in the sun for a long time resulting in heat stroke or heat stroke, or ‘I got dizzy on a ladder and fell down,’ led me to become a trauma patient. Others passed out on the street and suffered burns on their hands and backs.”
He added that certain individuals face greater risk than others, including older patients, athletes, children, people without access to air conditioning and those dealing with substance abuse.
“Other populations are communities of color, and people of lower socio-economic status are more at risk because their living conditions can cause heat islands, because their neighborhoods are actually hotter.” because the ambient temperature is higher than normal,” Dr. Drummond said. “Then it also puts certain people at higher risk, like construction workers and outdoor workers… It’s a double whammy for them, but it becomes a matter of livelihood.”
The new task force Information sheet for healthcare providers to share with patients. It lists about 50 types of medicines that can affect the body during extreme heat.
