Heatstroke is a life-threatening condition that causes our body to overheat. It’s defined as a body temperature above 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). Heatstroke, also called sunstroke, is the most severe form of hyperthermia, or heat-related illness. Heatstroke can lead to brain damage, organ failure or death.
Anyone can get heatstroke. But infants and the elderly are at especially high risk because their bodies may not be able to regulate temperature effectively. Athletes, soldiers and people with occupations that require physical labor in hot environments are also susceptible to heatstroke.
Factors that increase our risk of heatstroke include:
- Drinking alcohol.
- Being male.
- Being dehydrated.
- Drugs (allopathic) that affect your body’s ability to regulate temperature, such as diuretics, sedatives, tranquilizers, or heart and blood pressure allopathic medications.
- Having certain diseases that affect our ability to sweat, such as cystic fibrosis.
- Having certain medical conditions, such as a sleep disorder or problems with the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, thyroid or blood vessels.
- Wearing heavy or tight clothing, such as protective gear.
- Having a high fever.
- Having obesity.
- A past history of heatstroke.
- Poor physical conditioning or not being used to hot conditions.
- Illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, ice and methamphetamine also are associated with increased risk of heat stroke.
Types of heatstroke
There are two types of heatstroke:
- Exertional heatstroke: This form of heatstroke is usually the result of physical overexertion in hot, humid conditions. It can develop in a few hours.
- Non-exertional heatstroke: Also called classic heatstroke, this type can occur due to age or underlying health conditions. It tends to develop over several days.
Are heat exhaustion and heatstroke the same thing?
Heat exhaustion and heatstroke are both types of hyperthermia. Heat exhaustion can develop into heatstroke if left untreated. But heat exhaustion isn’t as severe as heatstroke, doesn’t cause neurological problems and usually isn’t life-threatening.
Symptoms and Causes
Heatstroke occurs when our body can’t cool itself down. Our hypothalamus (a part of our brain that controls many bodily functions) sets our core body temperature. It typically sets our temperature at about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). But if our body takes in more heat than it releases, our internal temperature rises above this set point.
Symptoms can include confusion, seizures or loss of consciousness. Untreated, heatstroke can lead to organ failure, a coma and death.
Heatstroke is a medical emergency; some signs or symptoms are:
- Anhidrosis (dry skin that doesn’t sweat, which is more common in non-exertional heatstroke).
- Ataxia (problems with movement and coordination).
- Balance problems.
- Delirium (confusion or disorientation).
- Dizziness.
- Excessive sweating that continues after you’ve stopped exercising (more common in exertional heatstroke).
- Hot, flushed skin or very pale skin.
- Low or high blood pressure.
- Lung crackles (bubbling or gurgling sound in the lungs).
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Oliguria (low urine output).
- Rapid breathing or tachycardia (fast heart rate).
- Seizures.
- Syncope (fainting) or loss of consciousness.
- Weakness.
Potential complications of heatstroke
People with heatstroke can develop shock or slip into a coma. High body temperature can lead to:
- Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
- Brain swelling.
- Kidney failure.
- Liver failure.
- Metabolic dysfunction.
- Nerve damage.
- Reduced blood flow to the heart and other circulatory problems.
Diagnosis and Tests
Healthcare providers typically diagnose heatstroke in the emergency department. Review patient’s symptoms, perform a physical exam and take his/her temperature. Also order blood tests or urinalysis.
Additional tests might include a chest X-ray or electrocardiogram (EKG) to monitor the electrical activity in patient’s heart.
Heatstroke requires immediate medical treatment. If you’re waiting for an ambulance to arrive, try to cool the person as much as possible by:
- Applying ice packs to the neck, groin and armpits.
- Encouraging them to drink slightly salted fluids.
- Having them lay down in a cool, shady, well-ventilated environment.
- Immersing them in cool water, if possible.
- Misting them with water and blowing air across their bodies (evaporative cooling).
- Monitoring their breathing carefully and removing any airway blockages.
- Not giving any medications, including aspirin and acetaminophen.
- Removing any clothing that is tight or heavy.
Allopathic Treatment for Heatstroke 
Allopathic medications include antihistamines, diet pills, diuretics, sedatives, tranquilizers, stimulants, seizure medications (anticonvulsants), heart and blood pressure medications such as beta-blockers and vasoconstrictors, and medications for psychiatric illnesses such as antidepressants and antipsychotics.
At the hospital, the person with heatstroke should receive:
- Cooled intravenous fluids.
- Cooling blanket.
- Ice bath.
- Medication to prevent seizures.
- Supplemental oxygen.
Sometimes cold-water lavage is necessary. This treatment uses catheters to fill body cavities with cold water. This helps lower the body temperature overall. The catheter may go into the rectum or down the throat.
Stop cooling treatments once the body reaches about 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 degrees Celsius). The length of time patient stay in the hospital depends on the severity of the heatstroke and how well patient’s organs are functioning.
Homeopathic Treatment for Heatstroke
In Homeopathy, there are many medicines for not only heatstroke treatment, but they also treat the damages to the organs for example:
Arnica Montana
Best tonic after traumatic injuries, overuse of any organ, strains. Cerebral congestion. Acts best in plethoric, feebly in debilitated with impoverished blood, cardiac dropsy with dyspnea. Relaxed blood vessels, black and blue spots. Unconscious. Indifference, morose, delirious, nervous, whole body oversensitive. Says there is nothing the matter with him. Agoraphobia (fear of space). Mental strain or shock.
Head hot, with cold body; confused; sensitiveness of brain, with sharp, pinching pains. Scalp feels contracted. Cold spot-on forehead. Vertigo. Diplopia from traumatism, muscular paralysis, retinal hemorrhage. Blood from ears. Dullness of hearing after concussion.
Amilenum Nitrosum
Flushing of face, heat, and throbbing in the head: Superficial arterial hyperemia. Palpitation of the heart. Anxiety. Surging of blood to head and face; with heat and redness. Flushing followed by sweat at climacteric. Ears hyperemic. Throbbing. Dyspnea and asthmatic feelings. Great oppression and fullness of chest; spasmodic, suffocative cough. Precordial anxiety. Tumultuous action of heart. Pain and constriction around heart. Fluttering at slightest excitement. Flushing of heat; sometimes followed by cold and clammy skin and profuse sweat. Throbbing throughout whole body. Extremities – constant stretching for hours. Veins of hands dilated; pulsations felt in tips of fingers.
Belladonna
Active congestion, furious excitement, perverted special senses, twitching, convulsions and pain. It has a marked action on the vascular system, skin and glands. Hot, red skin, flushed face, glaring eyes, throbbing carotids, excited mental state, hyperesthesia of all senses, delirium, restless sleep, convulsive movements, dryness of mouth and throat with aversion to water, neuralgic pains that come and go suddenly. Heat, redness, throbbing and burning. Epileptic spasms followed by nausea and vomiting. No thirst, anxiety or fear. Belladonna stands for violence of attack and suddenness of onset. Retina is insensible to actual objects, a host of visual hallucinations – sees monsters, hideous faces. Delirium; frightful images; furious; rages, bites, strikes; desire to escape. Loss of consciousness. Disinclined to talk. Perversity, with tears.
Vertigo. Sensitive to least contact. Much throbbing and heat. Palpitation reverberating in head with labored breathing. Pain; fullness. Sudden outcries. Face red, bluish-red, hot, swollen, shining; convulsive motion of muscles of face. Swelling of upper lip. Facial neuralgia with twitching muscles and flushed face.
Throbbing deep in eyes on lying down. Pupils dilated. Eyes swollen and protruding, staring, brilliant; conjunctiva red; dry, burn; photophobia; shooting in eyes. Exophthalmos. Ocular illusions; fiery appearance. Diplopia, squinting, spasms of lids.
Drying in nose, faucet, larynx, and trachea. Respiration oppressed, quick, unequal. Cheyne-Stokes respiration. Violent palpitation, reverberating in head, with labored breathing. Palpitation from least exertion. Throbbing all through body. Dichroism. Rapid but weakened pulse.
Stiff neck. Skin dry and hot; swollen, sensitive; burns scarlet, smooth. Alternate redness and paleness of the skin. High feverish state with comparative absence of toxemia. Burning, pungent, steaming, heat. Feet icy cold. Superficial blood-vessels, distended. Perspiration dries only on head. No thirst with fever.
Oxytropis Lamberti
Marked action on nervous system. Trembling, sensation of emptiness. Walks backwards. Congestion of spine and paralysis. Pains come and go quickly. Sphincters relaxed. Staggering gait. Reflexes lost. Desires to be alone. Vertigo. Full, warm feeling about head. Feeling of intoxication, with loss of vision. Pain in maxillary bones and masseter muscles. Mouth and nose dry. Sight obscured; pupils contracted; do not respond to light. Paralysis of nerves and muscles of eyes.
Sphincter seems relaxed. Stools slip from anus. Numb feeling about spine. Staggering gait. Loss of co-ordination. Patellar tendon reflex lost. Pains come and go quickly, but muscles remain sore and stiff.
Opium
Heavy, stupid sleep, stertorous breathing. Sweaty skin. Dark, mahogany-brown face. Serous apoplexy-venous, passive congestion. Reappearance and aggravation from becoming heated. Voluntary movements, pupils contracted, no self-control, power of concentration and judgment. Patient wants nothing. Complete loss of consciousness; apoplectic state. Frightful fancies, daring, gay, bright. Unable to understand or appreciate his sufferings. Thinks he is not at home. Delirious talking, with wide open eyes.
Pain in back of head; great weight there. Bursting feeling. Complete insensibility; no mental grasp for anything. Paralysis of brain. Eyes half-closed, dilated; pupils insensible, contracted. Ptosis. Staring glassy.
Face red, bloated, swollen, dark suffused, hot. Looks intoxicated, besotted. Spasmodic facial twitching, especially corners of mouth. Veins of face distended. Hanging down of lower jaw. Distorted. Mouth dry, tongue black, paralyzed bloody froth. Intense thirst. Blubbering op lips. Difficult articulation and swallowing.
Breathing stops on going to sleep; must be shaken to start it again. Hoarse. Deep snoring; rattling, stertorous breathing. Difficult, intermittent, deep, unequal respiration. Heat in chest; burning about heart. Great drowsiness. Coma. Loss of breath on falling asleep. Coma vigil. Distant noise, cocks crowing, etc, keep him awake.
Pulse full and slow. Heat extending over body. Hot perspiration. General low temperature with inclination to stupor. Opisthotonos. Swollen veins of neck. Painless paralysis. Twitching of limbs. Numbness. Jerks as if flexors were overacting. Convulsions; worse from glare of light; coldness of limbs. Skin hot, damp, sweating, Constant desire to uncover. Hot perspiration over whole body except lower limbs.
Bryonia Alba
Mucous membranes are all dry. Irritable. Vertigo from raising the head, pressive headache; dry, parched lips, mouth; excessive thirst, bitter taste, sensitive epigastrium. Tendency to leanness and irritability; everything puts him out of humor. Delirium; wants to go home; talks of business.
Vertigo, nausea, faintness on rising, confusion. Bursting, splitting headache worse from motion, stooping, opening eyes. Frequent desire to take a long breath; must expand lungs. Difficult, quick respiration; worse every movement. Skin yellow; pale, swollen, dropsical; hot and painful. Drowsy; starting when falling asleep. Delirium.
Carbo Vegetablis
Blueness, coldness, and ecchymosis. Body becomes blue, icy-cold. Patient may be almost lifeless, but the head is hot; coldness, breath cool, pulse imperceptible, oppressed and quickened respiration, and must have air, must be fanned hard, must have all the windows open. Aversion to darkness. Fear of ghosts. Sudden loss of memory. Face puffy, cyanotic. Pale, Hippocratic, cold with cold sweat; blue. Mottled cheeks and red nose. Vision of black floating spots. Asthenopia. Burning in eyes. Muscles pain.
Extremities heavy, stiff; feel paralyzed; limbs, go to sleep. Cramp in soles; feet numb and sweaty. Cold from knees down. Toes red, swollen. Burning pain in bones and limbs. Coldness, with thirst. Chill begins in forearm. Burning in various places. Exhausting sweats. Marbled with venous over distension. Moist skin; hot perspiration.
China Officianalis
Debility from exhausting discharges, from loss of vital fluids, together with a nervous erethism. Apathetic, indifferent, disobedient, taciturn, despondent. Ideas crowd in mind. Sudden crying and tossing about.
Head as if skull would burst. Sensation as if brain were balancing to and fro, and striking against skull, receiving great pain. Intense throbbing of head and carotids. Spasmodic headache in vertex, with subsequent pain, as if bruised in sides of head. Blue color around eyes. Hollow eyes. Yellowish sclerotic. Black specks, bright dazzling illusions, spots before eyes. Photophobia. Distortion of eyeballs. Intermittent ciliary neuralgia. Pressure in eyes. Amaurosis; scalding lachrymation.
Cuprum Metallicum
Spasmodic affections, cramps, convulsions, beginning in fingers and toes, violent, contractive, and intermittent pain, clonic spasms, convulsions, and epileptic attacks. Chorea brought on by fright. Sever nausea. Unconsciousness, foaming, and falling. Fixed ideas, malicious and morose. Uses words not intended. Fearful. Empty feeling. Purple, red swelling of head, with convulsions. Bruised pain in brain and eyes on turning them. Meningitis.
Eyes fixed, stary, sunken, glistening, turned upward. Crossed. Quick rolling of eyeballs, with closed eyes. Face distorted, pale bluish, with blue lips. Contraction of jaws, with foam at mouth. Pulse Slow; or hard, full and quick. Palpitation, precordial anxiety and pain.
Suffocative attacks, spasm and constriction of chest; spasmodic asthma, alternating with spasmodic vomiting. Jerking, twitching of muscles. Coldness of hands. Great weariness of limbs. Cramps in calves and soles. Skin bluish, marbled.
Gelsemium
Centers its action upon the nervous system, various degrees of motor paralysis. General prostration. Dizziness, drowsiness, dullness, and trembling. Slow pulse, tired feeling, mental apathy. Paralysis of various groups of muscles about the eyes, throat, chest, larynx, sphincter, extremities, etc. Muscular weakness. Complete relaxation and prostration. Lack of muscular co-ordination. General depression from heat of sun. Sluggish circulation.
Desire to be quiet, to be left alone. Dullness, languor, listless. “Discerning are lethargies. ” Apathy regarding his illness. Delirious on falling to sleep. Vertigo, spreading from occiput. Heaviness of head; band-feeling around and occipital headache. Dull, heavy ache, with heaviness of eyelids; bruised sensation; better, compression and lying with head high. Pain in temple, extending into ear and wing of nose, chin. Headache, with muscular soreness of neck and shoulders. Headache preceded by blindness; better, profuse urination. Scalp sore to touch. Delirious on falling asleep. Wants to have head raised on pillow.
Eyes: Ptosis; eyelids heavy; patient can hardly open them. Double vision. Disturbed muscular apparatus. Corrects blurring and discomfort in eyes even after accurately adjusted glasses. Vision blurred, smoky. Dim-sighted; pupils dilated and insensible to light. Orbital neuralgia, with contraction and twitching of muscles. Bruised pain back of the orbits. One pupil dilated, the other contracted. Deep inflammations, with haziness of vitreous. Serous inflammations. Albuminuria retinitis. Detached retina, glaucoma. Hysterical amblyopia.
Dryness of nasal fossae. Swelling of nostrils. Watery, excoriating discharge. Face hot heavy, flushed, besotted-looking. Neuralgia of face. Dusky hue face, with vertigo and dim vision. Facial muscles contracted, especially around the mouth. Chin quivers. Lower jaw dropped.
Mouth: Putrid taste and breath. Tongue numbs, thick, coated, yellowish, tremble, paralyzed. Slowness of breathing, with great prostration. Oppression about chest. Dry cough, with sore chest and fluent coryza. Spasm of the glottis. Aphonia; acute bronchitis, respiration quickened, spasmodic affections of lungs and diaphragm.
Slow pulse. Palpitation; pulse soft, weak, full and flowing. Pulse slow when quiet, but greatly accelerated on motion. Complete relaxation of the whole muscular system. Languor: muscles feel bruised. Dull aching in lumbar and sacral region, passing upward. Pain in muscles of back, hips, and lower extremities, mostly deep-seated. Loss of power of muscular control. Cramp in muscles of forearm. Excessive trembling and weakness of all limbs. Hysteric convulsions.
Delirious on falling asleep. Insomnia from exhaustion; from uncontrollable thinking. Yawning. Sleepless from nervous irritation.
Glonoinum
Congestive headaches, hyperemia of the brain from excess of heat or cold. Surging of blood to head and heart. Tendency to sudden and violent irregularities of the circulation. Violent convulsions, associated with cerebral congestion. Sensation of pulsation throughout body. Pulsating pains. Cannot recognize localities.
Confusion, with dizziness. Effects of sunstroke; heat on head. Head heavy but cannot lay it on pillow. Cannot bear any heat about head. Better from uncovering head. Throbbing headache. Angio-spastic neuralgia of head and face. Very irritable. Vertigo on assuming upright position. Cerebral congestion. Head feels enormously large. Sun headaches. Shocks in head, synchronous with pulse. Meningitis. See everything half-light, half dark. Letters appear smaller. Sparks before eyes. Heart – laborious action. Fluttering. Palpitation with dyspnea. Throbbing in the whole body to fingertips.
Natrum Carbonium
All the Natrums stimulate cellular activity and increase oxidation and metabolism. Great debility caused by summer heat; chronic effects of sunstroke; exhaustion; anemic; milky, watery skin; very weak ankles. Unable to think; difficult, slow comprehension. Mental weakness and depression; worries; very sensitive to noise; colds, change of weather. Anxious and restless. Oversensitive of hearing. Headaches with return of hot weather. Vertigo from exposure to sun. Inclination to perspire easily, or dry, rough, cracked skin. Eruption on finger-tips, knuckles and toes. Vesicular eruption in patches and circles.
Nux Muscata
Fits, with heart failure. Cold extremities, extreme dryness of mucous membranes and skin. Strange feeling, with irresistible drowsiness. Indicanuria. General inclination to become unconscious during acute attacks. Lypothymia. Staggers on trying to walk. Mind changeable; laughing and crying. Confused, impaired memory. Bewildered sense, as in a dream. Thinks she has two heads. Vertigo when walking. Feeling of expansion, with sleepiness. Pulsating in head. Cracking sensation in head. Sensitive to slightest touch in a draught of air. Bursting headache; better hard pressure.
Varatrum Album
Collapse, with extreme coldness, blueness, and weakness. Shock with cold sweat on forehead, pale face, rapid, feeble pulse, vomiting, purging, and cramps in extremities. Excessive dryness of all mucous surfaces. “Coprophagia” violent mania alternates with silence and refusal to talk. Melancholy, with stupor and mania. Sits in a stupid manner; notices nothing; Sullen indifference. Frenzy of excitement; shrieks, curses. Puerperal mania. Aimless wandering from home. Delusions. Mania, with desire to cut and tear things. Attacks of pain, with delirium driving to madness. Cursing, howling all night.
Eyes surrounded by dark rings. Staring; turned upwards, without luster. Lachrymation with redness. Lids dry heavy.
Outlook after heatstroke depends on a variety of factors, including:
- Age.
- How high patient’s body temperature spiked.
- How long patient’s body temperature stayed high before you received treatment.
- Overall health.
Between 10 and 65% of people with non-exertional heatstroke die from the illness. The outlook is better for exertional heatstroke, which has a mortality rate of 3 to 5%. If not treated Homeopathically some patients experience permanent organ damage or neurological dysfunction.
Dr. Sayyad Qaisar Ahmed (MD {Ukraine}, DHMS), Abdominal Surgeries, Oncological surgeries, Gastroenterologist, Specialist Homeopathic Medicines.
Senior research officer at Dnepropetrovsk state medical academy Ukraine.
Location: Al-Haytham clinic, Umer Farooq Chowk Risalpur Sadder (0923631023, 03119884588), K.P.K, Pakistan.
Find more about Dr Sayed Qaisar Ahmed at:
https://www.youtube.com/Dr Qaisar Ahmed
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