Health
When heat waves turns deadly: How extreme temperatures affect the human body
As temperatures and humidity soar outside, what’s happening inside the human body can become a life-or-death battle decided by just a few degrees.
The critical danger point outdoors for illness and death from relentless heat is several degrees lower than experts once thought, say researchers who put people in hot boxes to see what happens to them.
With much of the United States, Mexico, India and the Middle East suffering through blistering heat waves, worsened by climate change, several doctors, physiologists and other experts explained to The Associated Press what happens to the human body in such heat.
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Heat waves can raise your body temperature
The body’s resting core temperature is typically about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
That’s only 7 degrees away from catastrophe in the form of heatstroke, said Ollie Jay, a professor of heat and health at the University of Sydney in Australia, where he runs the thermoergonomics laboratory.
Dr. Neil Gandhi, emergency medicine director at Houston Methodist Hospital, said during heat waves anyone who comes in with a fever of 102 or higher and no clear source of infection will be looked at for heat exhaustion or the more severe heatstroke.
A man pours cold water onto his head to cool off on a sweltering hot day in the Mediterranean Sea in Beirut, Lebanon, on July 16, 2023. As temperatures and humidity soar, what’s happening inside the human body can become a life-or-death battle decided by just a few degrees. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
“We routinely will see core temperatures greater than 104, 105 degrees during some of the heat episodes,” Gandhi said. Another degree or three and such a patient is at high risk of death, he said.
How heat kills
Heat kills in three main ways, Jay said. The usual first suspect is heatstroke — critical increases in body temperature that cause organs to fail.
When inner body temperature gets too hot, the body redirects blood flow toward the skin to cool down, Jay said. But that diverts blood and oxygen away from the stomach and intestines, and can allow toxins normally confined to the gut area to leak into circulation.
“That sets off a cascade of effects,” Jay said. “Clotting around the body and multiple organ failure and, ultimately, death.”
But the bigger killer in heat is the strain on the heart, especially for people who have cardiovascular disease, Jay said.
It again starts with blood rushing to the skin to help shed core heat. That causes blood pressure to drop. The heart responds by trying to pump more blood to keep you from passing out.
“You’re asking the heart to do a lot more work than it usually has to do,” Jay said. For someone with a heart condition “it’s like running for a bus with dodgy (hamstring). Something’s going to give.”
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The third main way is dangerous dehydration. As people sweat, they lose liquids to a point that can severely stress kidneys, Jay said.
Many people may not realize their danger, Houston’s Gandhi said.
Dehydration can progress into shock, causing organs to shut down from lack of blood, oxygen and nutrients, leading to seizures and death, said Dr. Renee Salas, a Harvard University professor of public health and an emergency room physician at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“Dehydration can be very dangerous and even deadly for everyone if it gets bad enough — but it is especially dangerous for those with medical conditions and on certain medications,” Salas said.
Dehydration also reduces blood flow and magnifies cardiac problems, Jay said.
Intense heat can ‘fry’ your brain
Heat also affects the brain. It can cause a person to have confusion, or trouble thinking, several doctors said.
“One of the first symptoms you’re getting into trouble with the heat is if you get confused,” said University of Washington public health and climate professor Kris Ebi. That’s little help as a symptom because the person suffering from the heat is unlikely to recognize it, she said. And it becomes a bigger problem as people age.
One of the classic definitions of heat stroke is a core body temperature of 104 degrees “coupled with cognitive dysfunction,” said Pennsylvania State University physiology professor W. Larry Kenney.
Heat and humidity are a dangerous duo
Some scientists use a complicated outside temperature measurement called wet bulb globe temperature, which takes into account humidity, solar radiation and wind. In the past, it was thought that a wet-bulb reading of 95 Fahrenheit was the point when the body started having trouble, said Kenney, who also runs a hot box lab and has done nearly 600 tests with volunteers.
His tests show the wet-bulb danger point is closer to 87. That’s a figure that has started to appear in the Middle East, he said.
And that’s just for young healthy people. For older people, the danger point is a wet bulb temperature of 82, he said.
“Humid heat waves kill a lot more people than dry heat waves,” Kenney said.
When Kenney tested young and old people in dry heat, young volunteers could function until 125.6 degrees, while the elderly had to stop at 109.4. With high or moderate humidity, the people could not function at nearly as high a temperature, he said.
“Humidity impacts the ability of sweat to evaporate,” Jay said.
How to cool down heat exhaustion patients
Heatstroke is an emergency, and medical workers try to cool a victim down within 30 minutes, Salas said.
The best way: Cold water immersion. Basically, “you drop them in a water bucket,” Salas said.
But those aren’t always around. So emergency rooms pump patients with cool fluids intravenously, spray them with misters, put ice packs in armpits and groins and place them on a chilling mat with cold water running inside it.
Sometimes it doesn’t work.
“We call it the silent killer because it’s not this kind of visually dramatic event,” Jay said. “It’s insidious. It’s hidden.”
It’s long been known that no amount of alcohol is good for the body — and now new research spotlights the potential harm it can cause.
More than 5% of all cancer cases are caused by drinking alcohol, according to the Cancer Progress Report 2024 from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
Among the modifiable risk factors for cancer, alcohol is the third biggest, behind obesity (7.6% of cases) and cigarette smoking (19.3%).
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“Excessive levels of alcohol consumption increase the risk for six different types of cancer, including certain types of head and neck cancer, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and breast, colorectal, liver and stomach cancers,” said Rajarshi Sengupta, PhD, lead author of the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2024, in a statement sent to Fox News Digital.
More than 5% of all cancer cases are caused by drinking alcohol, according to the Cancer Progress Report 2024 from the American Association for Cancer Research. (iStock)
“Further, research shows that alcohol intake at an early age can increase the risk of cancer later in life.”
Based on these findings, limiting or eliminating alcohol can reduce the risk of developing alcohol-related cancers by 8% and the risk of all cancers by 4%, the report noted.
Addiction expert warns of risks
There has been a “roller coaster of information” about whether alcohol is harmful, according to addiction psychiatrist Dr. Adam Scioli of Caron Treatment Centers in Pennsylvania.
“There have even been reports for years that it could be beneficial for one’s health — but we know now that alcohol ingestion is one of the modifiable risk factors for cancer,” Scioli, who is not affiliated with AACR, told Fox News Digital.
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Around 75,000 Americans each year are diagnosed with a cancer that is linked in some way to alcohol use, according to Scioli.
The more someone drinks — both in volume and frequency — the higher the risk, he warned.
Among the modifiable risk factors for cancer, alcohol is the third biggest, behind obesity (7.6% of cases) and cigarette smoking (19.3%). (iStock)
“Alcohol is a toxin,” Scioli said.
“We’ve long known that it impacts any number of organs, essentially starting with the brain and working its way down to the colorectal system.”
Is there a ‘safe’ amount?
Moderate alcohol use is defined as one drink or less in one day for women.
For men, it is two drinks or fewer per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“We’ve long known that alcohol impacts any number of organs, starting with the brain and working its way down to the colorectal system.”
“Drinking alcohol in moderation may increase your overall risks of death and chronic disease,” the agency stated on its website.
“Even low levels of alcohol use (less than one drink per day) can raise the risk of certain cancers.”
Scioli agreed, emphasizing that “we can definitely say there’s no added health benefit to ingestion of alcohol.”
“The line between safety and danger is debatable, and is different for each person.”
While risk factors like tobacco use are widely known, public awareness about the link between alcohol and cancer is still low, according to Sengupta.
Moderate alcohol use is defined as one drink or less in one day for women, and two drinks or fewer for men, per the CDC. (iStock)
Most Americans (51%) are not aware that alcohol increases cancer risk, per AACR data.
“It’s been flying under the radar for far too long — especially given the number of Americans who have met the criteria for alcohol use disorder, which is around 29 million Americans in 2023,” said Scioli.
What needs to change?
The good news, according to Scioli, is that with modifiable risk factors like alcohol, reducing the intake decreases the risk.
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As the report stated, those who are successful in decreasing their drinking or abstaining below those moderate risk levels will see a risk reduction in overall cancers, he noted.
Around 75,000 Americans each year are diagnosed with a cancer that is linked in some way to alcohol use, an expert said. (iStock)
“We need to do a much better job of making the public aware of the risks inherent in drinking — particularly moderate to heavy drinking,” Scioli said.
“And we need to make the public aware that there are mechanisms by which they can access help if they are unable to moderate their drinking or quit on their own.”
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health
To help raise awareness, Sengupta of the AACR called for public messaging campaigns, “such as cancer-specific warning labels displayed on alcoholic beverages.”
Along with that, she told Fox News Digital, “effective clinical strategies that reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption must be considered to reduce the burden of alcohol-related cancers.”
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A new drug has been approved for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults.
On Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved COBENFY (xanomeline and trospium chloride), an oral medication that is manufactured by Bristol Myers Squibb in New Jersey.
This marks the first new class of medications for the brain disorder in several decades, according to a press release.
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COBENFY is expected to be available in the U.S. in late October, the company noted.
A new drug has been approved for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults. (iStock)
“Today’s landmark approval of our first-in-class treatment for schizophrenia marks an important milestone for the community, where after more than 30 years, there is now an entirely new pharmacological approach for schizophrenia — one that has the potential to change the treatment paradigm,” said Chris Boerner, PhD, board chair and chief executive officer at Bristol Myers Squibb, in the press release.
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Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that affects a person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
It often causes hallucinations, delusions, disordered speech and loss of touch with reality, Mayo Clinic states on its website.
COBENFY (xanomeline and trospium chloride) is an oral medication that is manufactured by Bristol Myers Squibb in New Jersey. (Bristol Myers Squibb)
The disorder can also lead to lack of emotional expression, lack of motivation, cognitive dysfunction and social withdrawal.
Approximately 2.8 million people in the U.S. and 24 million people globally are living with schizophrenia.
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The disorder has traditionally been treated with antipsychotic medications, but around 40% of patients do not respond to treatments and 60% experience “inadequate improvement” in symptoms or “intolerable side effects,” studies have shown.
COBENFY is expected to be available in the U.S. in late October, the company noted. (Bristol Myers Squibb)
COBENFY works differently than the currently available schizophrenia medications.
“Due to its heterogeneous nature, schizophrenia is not a one-size-fits-all condition, and people often find themselves in a cycle of discontinuing and switching therapies,” said Rishi Kakar, MD, chief scientific officer and medical director at Segal Trials and investigator in the drug’s clinical trials, in the release.
“Schizophrenia is not a one-size-fits-all condition, and people often find themselves in a cycle of discontinuing and switching therapies.”
“The approval of COBENFY is a transformative moment in the treatment of schizophrenia because, historically, medicines approved to treat schizophrenia have relied on the same primary pathways in the brain.”
“By leveraging a novel pathway, COBENFY offers a new option to manage this challenging condition.”
“Today’s landmark approval of our first-in-class treatment for schizophrenia marks an important milestone for the community,” said Chris Boerner, PhD, board chair and chief executive officer at Bristol Myers Squibb. (iStock)
Sam Clark, founder and CEO at Terran Biosciences — a biotech company that develops treatments and technologies for neurological and psychiatric diseases in New York City — commented on the new approval in a statement sent to Fox News Digital.
“I am excited that the FDA has just approved [COBENFY] as a treatment for patients with schizophrenia, marking a big leap forward in the psychiatry space,” he said.
“These patients live with a difficult disease, and this drug with a novel mechanism of action will surely make a significant impact,” Clark continued.
“We look forward to seeing the renaissance continue as this approval paves the way for future breakthroughs and novel patient-focused therapeutics.”
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The approval follows three phases of clinical trials in which COBENFY was shown to result in a “statistically significant improvement in illness.”
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that affects a person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors and often causes hallucinations and delusions. (iStock)
In terms of safety, the medication’s most common side effects during clinical trials were nausea, indigestion, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, hypertension, abdominal pain, accelerated heart rate, dizziness and gastroesophageal reflux disease, the release stated.
Patients with certain existing medical conditions may experience other, more serious risks.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health
People should discuss potential complications with a doctor before starting the medication.
Fox News Digital reached out to Bristol Myers Squibb and the Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance requesting comment.
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