Hot! Hot! Hot!

If you’re tired of reading about climate change, better rethink that opinion. You have chronic kidney disease. Climate change affects CKD. I live in Arizona. Our temperatures the last week or so have gone up as far as 117 degrees. I haven’t seen my backyard in weeks. It’s just too hot to go out.

I wanted some kind of scientific definition of climate change that I could understand so I turned to  NASA [Believe it or not]:

“Climate change is a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define Earth’s local, regional and global climates. These changes have a broad range of observed effects that are synonymous with the term….

‘Climate change’ and ‘global warming’ are often used interchangeably but have distinct meanings….

Global warming is the long-term heating of Earth’s surface observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere.”

Okay, so how does that affect CKD? PubMed makes no bones about it:

“ … the kidney has a critical role in protecting the host from dehydration, but it is also a favorite target of heat stress and dehydration. Here we discuss how rising temperatures and extreme heat events may affect the kidney. The most severe presentation of heat stress is heat stroke, which can result in severe electrolyte disturbance and both acute and chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, lesser levels of heat stress also have multiple effects, including exacerbating kidney disease and precipitating cardiovascular events in subjects with established kidney disease. Heat stress can also increase the risk for kidney stones, cause multiple electrolyte abnormalities and induce both acute and chronic kidney disease. Recently there have been multiple epidemics of CKD of uncertain etiology in various regions of the world, including Mesoamerica, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. There is increasing evidence that climate change and heat stress may play a contributory role in these conditions, although other causes, including toxins, could also be involved….” 

Of course, being me, I wanted to know specifically how the kidneys are affected. Where better to look for the answer than the National Kidney Foundation?

“Body temperatures in excess of 104 degrees Fahrenheit will cause significant problems for the kidneys. Dehydration will lead to low blood pressure and decreased kidney function. Many metabolic systems start to shut down in response to heat illness and a decline in kidney function is part of that abnormality in metabolic systems. There is breakdown of muscle tissue that results in kidney failure. Finally, heart failure and shock can lead to kidney failure during episodes of severe heat stroke.” 

ERA, the European Renal Association adds a bit more information:

“In general, our body has various ways of regulating body temperature and releasing excess heat. The best-known method is sweating. If the temperature control centre in our brain, known as the ‘hypothalamus’, detects that our comfort body temperature of 37 degrees [Gail here: That’s Celsius; it equates to 98.6 Fahrenheit.] is exceeded, the sweat glands in the skin are stimulated to produce more. We consequently give off heat by ‘evaporating’ the sweat on the surface of the body. In addition, the body dilates our skin vessels. The heart pumps more warm blood into the dilated skin vessels, which also dissipates heat.

The increased sweating naturally leads to a loss of fluid and important body salts, the so-called electrolytes. The lack of fluid and the heat-induced widening of the vessels lead to a drop in blood pressure. The heart no longer pumps enough blood through the body and the kidneys,” explains Professor Dr Christoph Wanner, Head of Nephrology at the German University Hospital in Würzburg and President of the European Renal Association (ERA). “If you don’t compensate for this fluid loss, you become dehydrated. This can result in kidney failure. The risk to develop urinary stones and urinary tract infections is also bigger when the body is dehydrated.”

By now, I’m sure you want to know what the symptoms of heat illness are. Our old friend, the Cleveland Clinic not only tells us the symptoms, but also explains the four different kinds of heat illness:

“A heat illness is one caused by high temperatures and humidity. You may get an illness while exercising or working in high heat and humidity. The four most common heat illnesses include:

• Heat rash (also called prickly heat or miliaria), which is a stinging skin irritation that turns your skin red.
• Heat cramps, which are painful spasms in your muscles.
• Heat exhaustion, which is caused by too few fluids and long hours in high temperatures, causes heavy sweating, a fast and weak pulse and rapid breathing.
• Heat stroke, which is a life-threatening illness, happens when your temperatures rises above 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius) quickly – within minutes.

Your body sweats to keep itself cool. If temperatures and humidity are too high, sweating isn’t effective enough.”

In the natural progression of thought, I’d like to know what to do about heat illness so I can save my kidneys some grief. Thank you to the Mayo Clinic for these suggestions:

“In most cases, you can treat heat exhaustion yourself by doing the following:

• Rest in a cool place. Getting into an air-conditioned building is best. If that’s not an option, find a shady spot or sit in front of a fan. Rest on your back with your legs raised higher than your heart level.
• Drink cool fluids. Stick to water or sports drinks. Don’t drink any alcoholic beverages, which can add to dehydration.
• Try cooling measures. If possible, take a cool shower, soak in a cool bath or put towels soaked in cool water on your skin. If you’re outdoors and not near shelter, soaking in a cool pond or stream can help bring your temperature down.
• Loosen clothing. Remove any unnecessary clothing and make sure your clothes are lightweight and nonbinding.

If you don’t begin to feel better within one hour of using these treatment measures, seek prompt medical attention.

To cool your body to a normal temperature, your health care team may use these heatstroke treatment techniques:

• Immerse you in cold water. A bath of cold or ice water has proven to be the most effective way of quickly lowering the core body temperature. The quicker you can receive cold water immersion, the less risk of organ damage and death.
• Use evaporation cooling techniques. If cold water immersion is not an option, health care professionals may try to lower your body temperature using an evaporation method. Cool water is misted on your body while warm air is fanned over you. This causes the water to evaporate and cool your skin.
• Pack you with ice and cooling blankets. Another method to lower your temperature is to wrap you in a special cooling blanket and apply ice packs to your groin, neck, back and armpits.
• Give you medications to stop your shivering. If treatments to lower your body temperature make you shiver, your doctor may give you a muscle relaxant, such as a benzodiazepine. Shivering increases your body temperature, making treatment less effective.”

I am convinced. I am definitely giving up starting my day outside with a cup of coffee and a good book until the weather is more manageable.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

• SEO Powered Content & PR Distribution. Get Amplified Today.
• PlatoData.Network Vertical Generative Ai. Empower Yourself. Access Here.
• PlatoAiStream. Web3 Intelligence. Knowledge Amplified. Access Here.
• PlatoESG. Carbon, CleanTech, Energy, Environment, Solar, Waste Management. Access Here.
• PlatoHealth. Biotech and Clinical Trials Intelligence. Access Here.
• Source: https://renal.platohealth.ai/hot-hot-hot/