Heat Stroke - Symptoms and Precaution

April 20, 2011

Heat stroke or sun stroke is a serious medical condition in which your body loses the ability to maintain its temperature through sweating.

This can ultimately result in dehydration. This dangerous condition can arise from the overheating of the body because of exposure to prolonged high atmospheric temperature or a hot working environment.
Heat stroke strikes suddenly without any warning. Excessive sweating and little or no intake of fluids can cause dehydration.

Dehydration can stop the functioning of crucial body organs like the kidneys, liver, brain, and heart and may lead to death.

The symptoms of heat stroke are as follows:

• Very high body temperature.
• Uneven breathing.
• Very high pulse rate and rapid heartbeat.
• Headache and nausea.
• Skin becomes very dry.

If you cannot avoid going out in the scorching heat or need to work in a hot environment, you may need to change your eating habits. By consuming certain foods regularly, you can always keep yourself safe from getting the heat stroke.

• Drink only water and fruit or vegetable juices.

Try to avoid tea and coffee as far as possible. The reason for this is that the caffeinated drinks cause more urination and less sweating.
• Make it a habit to drink buttermilk two to three times a day in order to keep your body cool.
• Onion has been a great preventive food additive against heat stroke since ages.

Add raw onion to your diet in the form of a salad. Alternatively, take one medium sized onion, chop it and fry. Add some spices according to your taste.

Before going out in the sun, consume the fried onion.
• Increase the intake of water rich fruits in your diet for prevention against heat stroke. Pineapple, melons, and water melons are excellent fruits for this purpose.
• Take two medium sized unripe mangoes. Slightly burn the skin of the mangoes by placing it on your cooking gas burner. Allow it to cool for some time. After peeling off the mangoes, mash the pulp in cold water. Add a little sugar and some rock salt to the taste. Keep in the deep freezer to chill the decoction. Drink it 4 to 5 times a day. This is a wonderful home remedy for preventing heat stroke.

Although there are no side effects of the foods mentioned here, you should consult your doctor before starting to take them. This is necessary because he or she will be well aware of your medical history.