Too Hot to Handle: How to Stay Cool When the Weather Turns Deadly

Did you know elder heat-related deaths have increased by 85% since 1990? This isn't just about air temperature; it's about the lethal combination of heat and humidity. Today we explore the often-overlooked crisis that is only getting worse. Learn why older adults are uniquely vulnerable, how medications can interfere with heat tolerance, and the warning signs that signal a potentially fatal heat stroke. https://bit.ly/46uvyHm

Join Everyone Dies to explore the hidden dangers of heat, stay safe and cool, and maybe even save a life! Be Cool!

In this Episode:

• 03:36 - Road Trip to Arkansas: Dover Lights and Possum Pie
• 07:08 - The Shocking Increase of Heat-Related Illness
• 11:10 - Why Are Older Adults More Vulnerable to Heat Stress?
• 13:15 - Heat Stroke: Signs, Symptoms, Prevention and Treatment
• 15:42 - Discussion: We have the Knowledge, but Do We Take Precautions?
• 21:22 - When Mistakes Become Mementos - Susan Rothchild, remembering a loved one who died from overdose
• 22:12 - Outro

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to Everyone Dies. This week we are talking about how heat and humidity can together be a deadly combination. So grab a tall, cool glass of water and settle in for our podcast where we talk about serious illness, dying, death, and bereavement.

I'm Marianne Matzo, a nurse practitioner, and I used my experience from working as a nurse for 47 years to help answer your questions about what happens at the end of life. And I'm Charlie Navarrette, an actor in New York City, and here to offer an every person viewpoint to our podcast. We're both here because we believe that the more you know, the better prepared you are to make difficult decisions before a crisis hits.

Also, this podcast does not provide medical nor legal advice. Please listen to the complete disclosure at the end of the recording. This podcast is a combination of education and entertainment, otherwise known as edutainment, delivered in three halves.

Our main topic is in the second half. You can fast forward to that jibber jabber free zone if you'd like. In the first half, Charlie has a piece about the Dover Lights in Arkansas and our recipe of the week.

In the second half, we explore how the summer weather can become a weapon of mass destruction. And in the third half, Charlie has a memory from Susan Rothschild titled, When Mistakes Become Mementos. So Charlie, hot enough for you? You're funny.

Yeah. See, it's usually, I don't mind heat. But you know, it's the humidity that kills me.

I don't mind hot heat, but dry hot heat. But yes, it's beyond hot enough for me. You? What about you kids? Well, you know what I miss? I miss the cool of spring and the cool of fall.

I get that. Yes. It's cold.

And then in a day, it's 90. And then it's 90 until it's cold. Yes.

And I loved, you know, like spring and fall where I could go outside and work in my garden and be comfortable like the whole day. And there's like two seasons now, and I don't like it. Yeah.

Yeah. To your point, it's, yeah, that fall and spring is just getting smaller and smaller. And yeah, sometimes it just simply, it feels there's three or four days of spring, and then suddenly it's summer.

Yeah. But I especially miss the fall, that slow change, you know, from being hot to cool. Yeah, it's always my favorite time.

You know, sometimes just walking around, I mean, New York City has a lot of parks. So just walking around parks, yeah, it seems like in a week's time, all the leaves fall. I mean, less than a week.

It's like you're walking and then you're covered in leaves. That's it. Yeah.

Yeah. A lot of times they are a changing. So in our first half, Everyone Dies travels to our Kansas? Oh, Arkansas.

As part of our weekly road trip, Arkansas is no stranger to unusual and bizarre phenomena, and some things like the Dover Lights cannot be explained. Twelve miles north of the rural town of Dover, off Old Highway 7, a dirt road winds through the woods, leading to an overlook built high above Big Piney Creek. From here, you can look into the valley below and wait for the show to begin.

Here, the mysterious phenomena that has been recurring almost every night since the 1800s occurs. The Dover Lights. Some believe the lights to be the carbine lanterns of miners who met their end in mineshaft collapses, doomed to walk the hillside searching for a way out of the darkness, perhaps not even knowing they are dead.

Another story is that the canyon in which the lights appear is actually the old Native American burial ground, and the lights are thought to be the spirits of the tribal leaders, helping others to find their way to the next life. One of the most famous myths tells the story of Spanish conquistadors who died while searching for gold on the hills and explains that the Dover Lights are their spirits. People who see the Dover Lights typically tell similar stories about them.

Spheres of light are seen hovering silently in the darkness of the hillside. Their intensity grows and shrinks seemingly at random, and their brilliance can be seen as a white light that changes to blue, orange, or even red. Mostly, the phenomena stays in the same area, which leads some investigators to believe the lights are a result of phosphorus gases igniting sporadically.

Some witnesses have claimed to see the lights move all across the hillside. So, our weekly funeral lunch recipe, straight from Arkansas, is Possum Pie, and you don't even need a possum to make it. Possum Pie is delicious as a layered dessert that starts with a delicious pecan shortbread crust, followed by layers of cream cheese, chocolate pudding, whipped cream, with more pecan sprinkled on top.

It is said that the name came from the fact that the pie is plain possum. It pretends to be something it is not, hiding its delectable chocolate layer until the pie is sliced. Imagine the surprises people cut into your offering at your next funeral lunch.

Bon Appetit! Please go to our webpage for this week's recipe for Possum Pie and additional resources for this program. Everyone Dies is offered at no cost but is not free to produce. Can we count on you to contribute? Your tax-deductible gift will go directly to supporting our non-profit journalism so that we can remain accessible to everyone.

You can also donate at www.everyonedies.org. That's every, the number one dies.org. Or, at our site on Patreon, under Everyone Dies. Marianne? Thank you. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Reports states that for today's children who are alive in the year 2100, there are going to be four times more climate extremes than they have now, even with only a few more tenths of the degree of warming over today's heat.

But if temperatures increased nearly two more degrees Celsius from now, which was equivalent to 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit, they would feel five times the floods, storms, droughts, and heat waves. The population of adults aged 65 and older, which is expected to continue to grow, has a higher than average risk of health-related deaths. Elder heat-related deaths have increased 85% since 1990.

Since 1999, people aged 65 and older have been several times more likely to die from heat-related cardiovascular disease than the general population, while non-Hispanic Blacks generally have had higher than average rates. People with certain diseases, such as heart and breathing problems, are especially vulnerable to excessive heat exposure. While dramatic increases in heat-related deaths are closely associated with the occurrence of hot temperatures and heat waves, these deaths may not be reported as heat-related on death certificates.

Therefore, the number of heat-related deaths may actually be higher than we know. Children are particularly vulnerable to heat-related deaths because their bodies are less able to adapt to heat than adults, and they must rely on others to help keep them safe. When people are exposed to extreme heat, they can have potentially deadly illnesses such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Hot temperatures can also contribute to deaths such as heart attacks, strokes, and other forms of heart disease. Older people with chronic diseases are more vulnerable to heat, including breathing problems, heart, and metabolic issues, and have an increased risk of death. Heat is a leading weather-related killer in the United States, even though most heat-related deaths are preventable through outreach and intervention.

Despite personal opinion regarding climate change, the earth is getting hotter, and unless something significantly changes, this will continue into the future. When looking at heat, we should be looking at the heat index and not just the air temperature. It is the combination of high air temperature and humidity that is dangerous, so relative humidity is taken into account when determining the heat index.

Humidity plus high heat is literally a killer combination. Currently, most people who die from heat stress die in their homes and without air conditioning. Indoor temperatures can be much higher than outside, especially at night.

In a study reported about the heat stress deaths in New York City, researchers documented that 81% had no air conditioning, and the rest had air conditioning that was either not working or not in use. 28% of decedents had an electric fan present and on, indicating that only using an electric fan without air conditioning cannot always prevent death during extreme heat for people who are at the highest heat risk. We have to take into account whether the power grid can support running air conditioning through major heat waves, as well as earlier in the spring and later in the fall, if there are fewer fluctuations in temperature into cooler ranges.

I bet you're wondering what happens to our bodies in older age that makes elders at a high risk for heat-related illness and death. A primary factor is that older adults do not sweat as much as younger people. This is because of skin changes and malfunctioning sweat glands.

Sweat wets our skin, and as the sweat evaporates, it cools the body down. So for older adults, the primary cooling mechanism is not effective. If you add in high humidity, the sweat pools on the skin and drips off instead of evaporating, resulting in increased body temperature and an increased risk for heat-related illnesses.

Second, medications can affect heat tolerance. Drugs like alcohol, beta blockers, antihistamines, and water pills and laxatives all interfere with the body's ability to cool itself down. Heart disease can contribute to heat intolerance because the heart is required to work harder to keep the core temperature stable because, in addition to its regular job in the heat, it has to push blood to the skin to release the heat.

Then, as sweat pours out, the blood volume is less, and the heart has to pump even harder to maintain the blood pressure. As a result, blood flow to the brain decreases, and the oxygen and glucose, the sugar, going to the brain is less. The body increases our breathing rate, and blood vessels constrict, meaning they get smaller, putting more work on the heart, and thinking and decision-making is altered.

This situation is called heat stroke, which is when the body's core temperature is above 104.9. There are more than 100,000 ER visits per year for heat stroke and about 700 deaths, most of which are men. The first symptom of heat stroke that people notice is a headache and then dry mouth, which means that you're already dehydrated. This shows the body's usual cooling temperature is not working because the core temp is rising.

The next symptoms are fatigue, confusion, heart palpitations. At 104 degrees, you're moving toward death, and this can happen in 10 to 20 minutes of high heat exposure. The major organs will start to shut down, and for those who get timely treatment and recover, 30% will have some sort of brain damage.

Prevent heat stroke by closing the curtains in your house to keep the heat out. Wear lightweight and light-colored clothing. Don't stay home alone if there's a power outage or extreme heat.

Contact your local health department for a list of cooling shelters you can go to. Go to where the air conditioning is, a mall, a movie theater, your kid's house. I don't know, but somebody has air conditioning, and ask them if you can come over.

Be sure someone has an extra key to your house so that they can come to check on you if you don't answer the door. Drink non-caffeinated drinks. Drink even if you're not thirsty.

As we get older, we have less of a thirst mechanism. We don't realize that we're getting dehydrated, so just drink. And if you're working outside, try to do it early in the day and take frequent breaks.

If a person has heat stroke or the beginning of it, the primary task is to cool the body down. Use cold water on the face and neck and then the hands and the feet. In the summer, keep wet washcloths in the freezer and wrap them around your neck.

Even if symptoms have progressed, lowering the body's temperature before further damage occurs is very important. And then go to your local ER. The life you save might just be your own.

As your high school yearbook said, stay cool. Charlie, any questions? Stay cool. I remember, yeah, what you're saying there about a high school yearbook, stay cool.

I forgot about that. Well, that's because I spent so much time trying to stay cool that I remember. Yeah, there you are.

You know, it's crazy. You're saying all this, I know all this, and it's because when we were younger, I mean, this is just part of what we learned in school. Just different things, just about, you know, weather, staying out of the heat.

If it's going to be very cold, you know, we were taught at school, you know, put on an extra set of socks, you know, cover your face to avoid frostbite. Put bread bags over your shoes. Did you do that? Yes.

Oh, I forgot about that. And people would slip and fall and break their necks. But they didn't get their socks wet.

No, they did not. Wow, I missed that information, Marianne. We just took it for granted.

And as soon as you started saying all that, it's like, yes, I know that. And then I remembered why I know that. It was just the way we were all brought up.

But do you do those things? Do you take care of yourself when you're out in the heat? Oh, God, no, of course not. No, I do. And again, if it's a dry heat, it really doesn't bother me.

Humidity, that I find to be a pain in the butt. But then, you know, I also know that, you know, I have some luxury that I don't always have to go out at one certain time. So I can avoid like the worst of the heat.

But if I can't, you know, I know not to, you know, just stay out in the heat. I mean, everything that you discussed, yeah, really just should be common knowledge. But yeah, to your point, people just don't.

And well, and if you we have so many heat related deaths, then you know, we don't. Yeah. I was going to.

Oh, you're right with the with with everything with the with the climate changing. So I have a few friends in in Germany. And, you know, Germany does not do a lot of air conditioning.

You know, so homes, you know, with air conditioning is not common. But now, Germans are starting to have to find air conditioners. To your point, it's just getting hotter and hotter.

So yeah, across Europe, it's just people are going to start using air conditioners, which had never been the case before. And which, of course, using that is going to make, you know, the temperature and the climate hotter still. Oh, yeah.

So well, and when we were growing up, we didn't have air conditioning. Yeah. Yes.

I remember we had those. Don't run through the sprinkler to cool yourself off. And I remember we had I think it was two of them, two big box air conditioners, fans.

And that was enough. You just took it from one room to the next room. And that was it.

You know, the windows were open, screens on the windows. And yeah. You know, it was always enough.

Well, we didn't know any better. You know, like who knew if it was enough, it's what we had. You may do.

I don't know as long, you know, for me, even if the wind is hot or the temperature is hot and a fan is on and it's blowing hot air, basically, I don't know. For me, it still feels cooler. Just I think just because the air is circulation, the air is circulating.

So for me, I don't know. I just feel comfortable as long as air is circulating. It's not like some, you know, hot box.

As long as air is circulating, it's fine. I mean, for me. But I know that's not the case for many, many people.

Yeah. And the data show that a fan is not enough. Oh.

Especially when the humidity is high because of those deaths where they found people with the fan on, but no air conditioning, the fan wasn't enough to bring their temperature down. I think, too, where I'm, you know, where I'm living, I mean, sunlight comes in, but it's not. I live like in the inside of an apartment complex, so I do have more shade than others.

So I'm sure that that helps out, you know, for me. So I'm not always in constant sunlight. Alrighty.

Okay, Dracula. Good evening. In our third half, When Mistakes Become Mementos by Susan Rothschild.

My son, Chauncey, died a few years ago of a fentanyl overdose. He was a brilliant, eccentric autodidact, an excellent farmer and chef, but he chose to work as a carpenter and plumber. He was not good at either job.

Yet, when he offered to build my new bathroom, I said yes. Now, every time I take a shower and see the dribbles of grout on the wall, stand on the still unattached drain plate, or get drenched using the hand nozzle with a mind of its own, I think of him. I will never get them fixed.

And thus ends this week's episode of Everyone Dies, and thank you for listening. This is Charlie Navarette. And supposedly the last words uttered from actor Humphrey Bogart, I should never have switched from scotch to martinis.

And I'm Marianne Matzo, and we'll see you next week. Remember, every day is a gift. Stay cool.

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