Worrying new research has unveiled a potential risk factor for heart disease – and it’s bad news for sun worshippers. The study, led by the University of Florida, claimed that just one exposure to heatstroke may trigger ‘late-emerging health disorders’ that progress into chronic illness.
These findings come as approximately 489,000 heat-related deaths take place across the world every year, according to the World Health Organisation, with 36% of these occurring in Europe. While the project only used mice as its subjects, scientists believe that similar damage could equate to ‘many years in a human lifespan’.
“The animals appeared to recover over a few days, but their hearts metabolically crashed two weeks later, which is when physicians often stop following human patients,” Professor Thomas Clanton, lead author of the project, said. “We think there’ll be more of this chronic heat injury as we face a warming environment.”
As part of the research, scientists followed a group of mice affected by heatstroke for around three months. After a two-week recovery period, half were then given a ‘Western diet’ to understand whether its components would amplify the negative consequences of heatstroke.
Interestingly, these mice experienced ‘accelerated diet-induced obesity’, fatty liver disease and ‘low-level cardiac hypertrophy’ – all risk factors of heart disease. The latter specifically refers to a condition in which the heart struggles to pump blood around the body due to muscle thickening.
Hypoproteinemia, describing a lack of protein in the blood, and an ‘increased vulnerability to secondary metabolic stressors’ were notable impacts, too. In light of this, Professor Clanton and his team now intend to expand their study to humans.
They hope to delve further into these life-threatening patterns amidst their mission to improve medications for heatstroke amidst the ever-present issue of global climate change.
What is heatstroke?
Heatstroke generally takes place when the body overheats. This can be a result of spending too much time in the sun or amidst extreme warmth, raising the body’s temperature to 40°C or higher.
Mayo Clinic explains: “Heatstroke needs emergency care. If it’s not treated, heatstroke can quickly damage the brain, heart, kidneys and muscles. This damage gets worse the longer treatment is delayed, which increases the risk of serious complications or death.”
The clinic has outlined eight of the most common symptoms of heatstroke. These are the following:
- Skin reddening
- Nausea and sickness
- Increased heart rate
- Headaches
- Confusion, seizures and other unexplained changes in behaviour
- Excessive sweating or dry hot skin
- High temperature
- Fast breathing