Health Alert: Heatstroke
There is a very seasonally germane (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) article in the New York Times by their very good science/health writer Gina Kolata about new research on heat stroke. One issue is that nobody really knew about long term affects and when it is safe to return to exercising - kind of like where we were with concussion some years ago. One paragraph to pique your interest: "But autopsy studies and some MRI scans of people who had heatstroke indicate the hypothalamus is not damaged. Injured brain regions include the cerebellum and the cerebral cortex, which is why people pass out, Dr. Sawka said. He worries about lasting damage to the liver and kidneys. One study of distance runners who had heatstrokes and repeated liver biopsies indicated their livers were still recovering four months later. And a study by the Army's Research Institute for Environmental Medicine found that 30 years after soldiers had heatstroke they were at increased risk of death from liver failure and other organ damage."
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I've had heat stroke alot! it took me approximately 10 years to readjust and get over it. I still have to watch it very, very carefully as I am much more prone to it than before I got it.
Acclimating, fluids, and physical conditioning and understanding your body and how it feels and what it can take is key to preventing it. I've seen one guy die, another suffer permanent brain damage, and have carried many off on litters to recieve emergency care! It is nothing to play around with for sure! Thanks for the reminder Janet! |
Re: Health Alert: Heatstroke
Young people are especially bad about this. Too much energy drink, not enough water. I had a kid in one of my platoons heatstroke right next to me...it was pretty scary. Had to run, grab a trunk, and dunk him in an ice bath (they had ones standing by in the trucks) until the medics showed up.
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Not just water, but they need to stop drinking sodas and drinks like gatorade that have synthetic potassium in it. Look for all natural drinks like coconut water which has natural potassium in it and anywhere from 500 to 700 mg of potassium. Also, stop drinking cold fluids. They are more harmful to the body.
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Nafis, what's the deal with synthetic potassium? What's different about it vs. natural forms?
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In 1983 I ran the Honolulu marathon. Temperature was in the 80's (F), it was humid, and the trade winds were not blowing. After around mile 20 I had to keep a sponge from an aid station ever-wet, because I had stopped sweating. (I won't go into the guy who did the race on crutches or the dude who passed me on his skateboard.)
At the finish, I went to the medical tent (a very warm canvas affair) for some asprin. As I sat on a cot, I looked over and startled -- a man's body was lying next to me, face covered. Turns out he stopped at McD's around mile 13, got something to eat, started running again, and died. Heat. Got to learn to live with it. |
Re: Health Alert: Heatstroke
We came very close to having one of our visitors from CA being overcome with heat stroke this year at Shochugeiko in Tempe, AZ. It is very, very serious and takes a good bit of care to recover from heat stroke. It's not "rocket science" but the most dangerous thing is - we do not monitor ourselves well enough. It always seems like it's a problem for "the other person." NOPE. I know from personal, first hand experience. Shows how smart I am... it's happened to me twice! Take care... it's part of budo practice.
Best regards, |
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In a couple of weeks I'll be in the mountains of South Carolina for seven days of 8+ hour per day training with no a/c. Yesterday the heat index there was 97. This is partcularly timely reminder!
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don't know...but I am a fan of coconut water. natural, lot less calories and refined sugars for the amount of K+ you get in it!
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Thats odd you would bring that up....I just first heard of coconut water maybe a week or two ago from one of my friends. I guess I will have to pick some up now that I'm hearing about it from multiple sources.
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Potassium, awww bananas.
David |
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See my post above. |
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There is a good reason to seek out micronutrients in food sources, however, and that is to keep the diet focused on nutrient-rich food. Getting potassium from sources such as bananas or cherries, which contain other useful nutrition, is preferable to supplementing an empty-calorie diet (which is more likely to be a diet high in refined and processed foods) with potassium supplements or sugary sports drinks. (Edit: I would also say that potassium from a sports drink is vastly preferable to heatstroke) |
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For rehydration you want something that is isotonic, which means that it contains electrolytes at or close the same concentration as your blood, which is essentially optimal for rehydration, since your body has to maintain its blood electrolyte concentration regardless of its water content. This is why giving people suffering from severe dehydration pure water is a bad idea: if their electrolytes are low, then the blood concentration becomes even lower due to introducing water and the body will immediately produce urine to get rid of the excess water and maintain the concentration. Producing urine in itself leeches further electrolytes from the blood and they actually end up even more dehydrated than before. Rehydration fluids should always be isotonic. Some sports drinks contain electrolytes, but I doubt they're truly isotonic, since proper isotonic rehydration drinks taste pretty nasty. The artificial sweeteners are a separate issue. They are basically there to hide the nasty flavor of the electrolyte salts, since the drinks would be pretty unpalatable otherwise. Sports drinks are probably better than water for general hydration, but probably shouldn't be used for people who are truly dehydrated unless they really are isotonic. In normal conditions, it's fine to remain hydrated through natural foods and pure water, since you basically dump an excess of everything into your body, and it'll then just get rid of the stuff it doesn't want. If somebody is suffering from dehydration, on the other hand, the artificial stuff will give them a significantly greater chance of survival. |
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