Heat stroke can damage the brain, heart, kidneys and liver. As extreme heat becomes more common, doctors are learning just how difficult recovery can be.
After an hour or two of running sprints and drills on the track with fellow high school volleyball hopefuls, Rebecca Ochoa realized she couldn’t see straight. It was a hot August day in Texas, and they’d only had limited water breaks. The coaches at Madisonville High School urged Ochoa to do one more lap. The 13-year-old stumbled forward and collapsed, her body overwhelmed by the heat.
Ochoa had experienced heat stroke, the most dangerous form of heat illness, and it wreaked havoc on her body. She developed a severe related condition called rhabdomyolysis, in which muscles break down, and doctors were concerned about possible kidney damage. She was hospitalized for about two weeks.
Extreme heat has been linked to half a million deaths worldwide each year. It’s one of the leading causes of weather-related deaths in the US and contributes to over 100,000 emergency department visits in the country annually. But many people still think of heat stroke as a short-term event: You overheat, then you cool off. It’s true that the damage depends on how quickly and thoroughly the person suffering can be cooled. But for those fortunate enough to survive, recovery can be far from straightforward. And as climate change increases exposure to dangerous heat, more people may encounter the grim truth Ochoa already knows: The effects aren’t always temporary or reversible.
Heat stroke survivors told Bloomberg News of physical recoveries that stretched for weeks or months, with health effects in some instances lasting even longer. Research has also linked heat stroke to a later risk of heart and kidney problems. In the most severe cases, survivors can be permanently disabled.
“There are people that, unfortunately, barely survive heat stroke and then they’re paralyzed or disabled for the rest of their life,” says Rebecca Stearns, chief operating officer of the Korey Stringer Institute, a nonprofit named after a Minnesota Vikings player who died from an exertional heat stroke in 2001.
Read the full story: One Hot Day Can Change Your Body for Years (Bloomberg)