Statement: The content of this article is written by quoting authoritative medical information combined with personal opinions, the source of the literature and screenshots have been marked in the text, in order to facilitate everyone's reading and understanding, some of the storylines have fictional components, which are intended to popularize scientific health knowledge, please be aware.
Uncle Gao is 75 years old and suffers from high blood pressure. As the summer deepened, especially when the heat of dog days reached its peak, Uncle Gao's activity decreased significantly, and the air conditioner became an indispensable tool for him to escape the heat, providing him with a cool world in this hot season.
However, the high temperature in summer also brought new challenges to Uncle Gao's life.
Due to his loss of appetite, he often forgot to take his blood pressure medication on time, which made his blood pressure fluctuate and he experienced frequent symptoms of dizziness and headaches. Just last week, after Uncle Gao returned from going out, the symptoms of dizziness and headache suddenly intensified, and his family rushed him to the hospital.
After examination, the doctor found that Uncle Gao's blood pressure soared, and the reason was that the high temperature outside and the low temperature of the air conditioner at home formed a huge temperature difference. This hot and cold environment, coupled with improper blood pressure control, eventually led to Uncle Gao's physical discomfort.
The doctor reminded Uncle Gao and his family that summer is a season for people with high blood pressure who need to be extra vigilant.
So, what do people with high blood pressure need to pay attention to in the summer? This article will combine medical knowledge to introduce the hidden dangers that patients with hypertension need to pay attention to in summer.
1. When the temperature rises, patients with high blood pressure need to be careful!
In the heat of summer, people with high blood pressure face a range of health challenges.
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As the temperature rises, the body's blood vessels dilate, and blood pressure usually drops, which seems to be good news for people with high blood pressure. However, there are more complex physiological reactions and potential risks behind this.
First of all, as the temperature rises in summer, the human body regulates itself by increasing the secretion of sweat in order to maintain a normal body temperature.
While this physiological mechanism is effective in helping the body dissipate heat, it also comes with a problem that cannot be ignored: the loss of large amounts of water and electrolytes. If this loss is not replenished in a timely manner, it can lead to hemoconcentration, which can cause a significant increase in blood pressure.
Further, a persistent state of dehydration not only increases the workload of the heart, but may also significantly increase the risk of heart attack.
For example, dehydration can lead to an increase in blood viscosity, which not only increases the resistance of the heart when pumping blood, but can also lead to insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle, which can increase the burden on the heart. In this case, the heart needs more force to push blood through the blood vessels, which not only increases the workload of the heart, but also leads to the occurrence of high blood pressure.
At the same time, the high temperature environment can also affect the diastolic function of blood vessels.
Under heat stress, blood vessels dilate to dissipate heat, but if they remain in this state, the elasticity of blood vessels may be affected, resulting in increased stiffness of blood vessel walls, which is also a potential factor in the development of high blood pressure.
Secondly, the summer heat is not only uncomfortable, but also has a serious impact on sleep quality.
In particular, very hot nights often make it difficult to fall asleep peacefully, or even to fall asleep. This decrease in sleep quality will not only lead to a sluggish mental state the next day, but will also interfere with the body's autonomic nervous system in the long run. In turn, the system that controls basic body functions such as heartbeat, breathing, and blood pressure is out of balance, resulting in a disorder of the body's blood pressure regulation function.
Therefore, in order to ensure health, taking antihypertensive medications on time is essential to stabilize blood pressure in patients with high blood pressure. However, when summer comes, patients who are still taking antihypertensive drugs also need to take special precautions.
So, do you know what they are?
Second, summer is coming, take blood pressure medication to pay attention to the following hidden dangers.
As summer approaches, rising temperatures not only bring hot weather, but also additional health considerations for patients who are taking antihypertensive medications. During this season, patients need to pay special attention to the potential risks that medications may pose.
First, as temperatures rise, so do people's eating habits.
This change is not only about taste and comfort, but also about health, especially for patients who rely on antihypertensive drugs to control their blood pressure.
First, a lightening of the summer diet, such as reducing the intake of greasy and high-calorie foods, may alter the acid-base environment in the stomach, which in turn affects the absorption efficiency of certain antihypertensive drugs.
This is because the bioavailability of some drugs is dependent on a specific stomach acid environment, and changes in dietary structure may interfere with this process, resulting in a diminished or enhanced effect of the drug.
Secondly, high temperatures in summer often lead to a decrease in appetite, which may not only affect the balanced intake of nutrients, but also may lead to patients not taking antihypertensive drugs on time and in accordance with the amount, thus affecting the stable control of blood pressure.
To complicate matters further, the cold drinks and chilled foods that people prefer in summer may cause a short-term cooling sensation, but their low-temperature properties may cause a constriction reaction of blood vessels, which may cause a temporary increase in blood pressure in patients with hypertension and increase the burden on the cardiovascular system.
In addition, the rich intake of summer fruits such as watermelon, grapes, mangoes, etc., although rich in vitamins and minerals, the high sugar properties of these fruits cannot be ignored. Excessive intake of high-sugar fruits can cause blood sugar levels to rise rapidly, triggering a large amount of insulin secretion.
Insulin not only regulates blood sugar, but also participates in the metabolism of sodium and water in the body, and its excess may lead to sodium and water retention in the body, increase blood vessel pressure, and indirectly affect blood pressure levels.
Therefore, patients taking medication in summer should pay close attention to the interaction between diet and medication, and consult a doctor in time if necessary, adjust the dosage of medication or optimize the diet structure to ensure stable control of blood pressure and maintain cardiovascular health.
Second, be careful that an increase in activity causes a drop in blood pressure.
During the hot summer months, if you do outdoor sports such as morning jogging, swimming, or hiking, your body helps regulate your body temperature by sweating profusely. This sweating not only reduces blood volume, but may also further lead to a drop in blood pressure.
For those who need to rely on antihypertensive drugs to control their blood pressure, this natural physiological response and the antihypertensive effects of the drugs may overlap, which can lead to hypotension.
Hypotension can not only cause symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue and weakness, but can also trigger syncope in severe cases, which poses a significant risk to the patient's daily life and overall health.
Therefore, for people taking antihypertensive drugs, special attention should be paid to choosing early morning or evening hours when the temperature is relatively low in the summer, and ensuring that the amount of exercise is moderate.
In addition, it is crucial to monitor blood pressure before and after exercise to help ensure that blood pressure stays within a safe range, thus avoiding discomfort and health risks caused by low blood pressure.
Thirdly, during the hot summer months, the storage conditions of the drug become especially critical.
High temperatures can lead to the breakdown of drug components, which can affect their efficacy. For example, some antihypertensive drugs may lose stability when temperatures exceed certain thresholds, causing them to become less effective or fail completely.
In addition, improper storage conditions, such as placing the drug in direct sunlight or in a humid environment, may also accelerate the deterioration process of the drug, increasing the risk of side effects.
Therefore, when storing medicines, one should read the instructions carefully, understand and observe the storage conditions of the drugs. If you don't have the right storage conditions at home, consider using a medication cooler or consulting a pharmacist for professional storage advice.
In general, patients should ensure that antihypertensive drugs are stored in a cool, dry and dark place to maximize the efficacy and safety of the drugs and ensure that patients can get the best treatment results.
3. Cooling in summer, patients with high blood pressure should not drop suddenly.
With the arrival of the scorching heat, hypertensive patients face a health challenge that cannot be ignored: the drastic change in temperature. This change not only affects the comfort of daily life, but may also pose a threat to the life safety of patients with hypertension.
For example, when a person with high blood pressure moves rapidly from the heat outdoors to a cool, air-conditioned room or to enjoy a cold bath, this temperature difference can trigger sharp fluctuations in blood pressure, which can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
This is because, when the human body is exposed to high temperatures, the blood vessels on the surface of the skin dilate in order to effectively dissipate heat, a physiological phenomenon called vasodilation. Vasodilation increases the amount of blood flowing to the skin, allowing more heat to be dissipated in the form of sweat through the sweat glands on the skin's surface, helping to lower body temperature.
However, this dilation of blood vessels also leads to a drop in blood pressure, as the dilation of blood vessels reduces the pressure of blood on the walls of blood vessels.
Conversely, when the body suddenly shifts from a hot environment to a cold environment, in order to reduce heat loss and maintain body temperature, blood vessels contract rapidly, a process called vasoconstriction.
Vasoconstriction reduces the amount of blood flowing to the skin, which reduces heat loss.
However, this sudden change in heat and cold can cause blood vessels to expand and contract for a short period of time, causing blood pressure to rise and fall sharply. And the rapid change in blood pressure puts an extra burden on the heart as it needs to work harder to maintain blood circulation.
At the same time, this drastic change in blood pressure can lead to a heart attack or other serious cardiovascular events, especially in those who already have cardiovascular disease.
Therefore, in summer, patients with hypertension need to gradually adapt to temperature changes and avoid excessive temperature differences between indoor and outdoor temperatures. and important measures to maintain proper water and electrolyte balances and prevent cardiovascular problems due to temperature changes.
In addition, regular medical check-ups, especially for people at risk of cardiovascular disease, can detect and treat possible health problems in a timely manner, thereby reducing the health risks caused by temperature changes.
Write at the end:
In summary, as the temperature rises, it is important for people with high blood pressure to be careful. For example, pay extra attention to changes in temperature and take appropriate precautions to reduce the risk of blood pressure fluctuations.
At the same time, it is taboo to be hot and cold, and pay attention to the storage method of the drug. With reasonable lifestyle modification and medical monitoring, you can effectively manage high blood pressure, protect heart health, and enjoy a safe and comfortable summer.
Bibliography:
1. Pay attention to summer hypertension[J].Open book is beneficial-seek medical advice,2023(06):62-63.
2. Ma Yuanjing. In summer, hypertensive patients need to adjust their antihypertensive strategies: An interview with Professor Fu Deyu, head of the Hypertension Research Office of the Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Research Institute of Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine[J].Family Medicine. Medical Treatment and Drug Selection,2021(07):30-31.
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