LANSING, Mich. — The extreme heat can really put your health in danger. You can get very sick and even die if you don't take precautions.
Young children, older adults and people with chronic health conditions are at a higher risk, and some medications can affect how well a person can tolerate the heat.
Sparrow Hospital said that certain medications can actually affect the body's ability to adapt to heat.
Those currently taking medications are at a higher risk for heat stroke in extreme heat.
Sparrow said medications used to treat mental health conditions, seizures, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, high blood pressure and cardiac conditions can slow the body's attempt to cool itself down.
The drugs can hinder blood flow, reduce sweating and even can lead to dehydration.
"Blood pressure medications and heart medications can make a big difference. Betta blockers and diuretics or water pills. Also the anticholinergics, which are often used for women who have bladder incontinence or urinary incontinence. Those can make people much more prone to make people dehydrated and to suffer symptoms of heat," Miranda Cristales, Sparrow Urgent Care physicians assistant.
If you are on any of these medications, talk to your health care provider first. They know exactly what medications you are taking and can talk to you about how summer heat might affect you.
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