Hot Weather – “In case of hyperthermia, certain medications can inhibit or interfere with the body’s thermoregulation,” the health insurance warns on its website, citing fatigue syndrome, dehydration and heatstroke, two main consequences of inadequate thermoregulation.
Some medications increase the excretion of water from the kidneys and therefore can increase the dehydration associated with high temperature […]. Other drugs can inhibit the normal functioning of the body’s cooling mechanisms […]It also explains the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products.
“Some medications can also exacerbate the effects of heat, by lowering blood pressure or impairing alertness,” ANSM adds. What medications are affected and what medications should I pay attention to?
It is not recommended to use aspirin and paracetamol
In hot weather, the health insurance company “strongly” advises against taking itaspirin or paracetamol for Treat fever or headache. “Paracetamol is ineffective in cases of heat stroke, and aspirin can disrupt the body’s thermoregulation,” the organization says.
She adds that other treatments can “increase the effect of the heat wave on the body, or impede the body’s adaptation to the heat.” Among them, health insurance cites in particular:
-
Medicines that can cause or worsen dehydration “by increasing water loss from the kidneys,” such as diuretics
-
Medicines that may affect kidney function: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugsAspirin, some antihypertensive drugs, antibiotics, antidiabetics, antivirals, etc.
-
Medications that can exacerbate thermoregulation problems: some antipsychoticsParkinson’s disease antibiotics Antidepressantsetc.
-
“Drugs that reduce cardiac output, such as diuretics and beta-blockers.”
-
they Anti-migrainewhich sometimes prevents vasodilation [augmentation de la taille des vaisseaux sanguins] or reduce sweating.
-
they sleeping tablets or anxiolytics, “medicines that reduce alertness and the ability to adapt behavior to fight heat”
The health insurance also indicates that the action of some medications can be modified if the temperature rises. “In general, you have to be careful with transdermal devices (patches), the effectiveness of which can be modified by sweating,” she explains. Disposition of oral antiepileptics or antidiabetics may also be modified by rehydration.
On its website, ANSM lists in more detail a list of drugs that can amplify the effects of a heat wave on the body.
This does not justify stopping treatment on your own.
“Even if certain medications can play a role in exacerbating the problems associated with high fever, this never justifies stopping treatment on its own, not even reducing it or interrupting it for a few days,” he said, but he supports health insurance. In fact, it is up to the attending physician to assess the situation on a case-by-case basis.
ANSM also notes that studies of risk factors for death after the August 2003 heat wave showed that while drug treatments can “promote the onset of heat stroke”, they have not concluded as much as “there is a causal relationship between drug intake and death”.
“In most cases, the drug does not present a risk on its own, especially if used correctly. Other risk factors, such as disease or old age, must be taken into account”, states ANSM.
See also on The HuffPost: “Heatwave or heat wave, how do you know the difference?”
#heat #wave #medications #lead #heat #stroke
