Amount of drink and dosage of medication What cardiac patients have to observe in the heat

Extreme heat: what heart patients and seniors should be aware of

The current summer temperatures are not fun for all people. Especially patients with heart and blood pressure problems demand a lot from the heat. In some cases, the drug dosage needs to be adjusted. In addition, not only this group of people should drink a lot more at the moment. Experts have even more heat tips for the heart and elderly.

Heat demands a lot from patients with cardiovascular diseases

The current temperatures over 30 degrees Celsius can be a challenge, especially for the elderly and those suffering from high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases. Possible consequences of the extreme heat are tiredness and dizziness as well as a drop in blood pressure to the point of circulatory collapse, as well as cardiac arrhythmia or muscle spasms. Vulnerable persons should therefore take urgent precautions.

For some people who are under treatment for heart or blood pressure problems, it may be useful to change the daily drinking volume and the dosage of medication due to the current heat wave - but only in consultation with a doctor. (Image: sebra / fotolia.com)

Adjusting the amount of drink and changing the dose of medication

Health consequences as described above, "can prevent those affected by discussing with their attending physician precautions, which may vary depending on the heart disease," said the cardiologist Prof. Dr. med. med. Dietrich Andresen, CEO of the German Heart Foundation, in a statement.

As examples, he called the "adjustment of the amount of drinking or necessary dosage changes in drugs".

In a contribution, the Herzstiftung has summarized important recommendations for heart patients to deal with the summer heat.

Lightweight clothing and cooler environment

The blood absorbs the excess heat from the body and transports it to the small skin vessels, which dissipate the heat to the air like "cooling coils".

The larger the area of ​​uncovered skin, the cooler and drier the passing air, and, above all, the more blood is pumped from the heart through the skin vessels, the more heat the body can give off.

A healthy heart can easily cope with this additional burden. A sick heart, on the other hand, reaches its limits faster.

"Elderly people and, above all, patients with cardiac insufficiency should therefore avoid the greatest possible heat, take care of their body and pay particular attention to dress in summer," recommends Prof. Andresen.

Additional fluid loss when taking certain medications

The body also releases heat through sweat, but loses fluid and electrolytes (salts: sodium, potassium, magnesium): in very hot weather, one to two liters of fluid per day.

Drinking is therefore so important to compensate for this fluid and salt loss.

"Healthy people automatically drink as much as they need to compensate for thirst. But in older or heart-ill people, the thirst can not be properly intact, so they do not drink enough and the fluid loss is not compensated, "warns Prof. Andresen.

"If in such a situation by an additional intake of water-drifting medications (diuretics), a greater fluid loss, the blood volume in the vessels decreases: the blood pressure drops and it can come, especially when getting up from a lying or sitting position to circulatory collapse with short-term unconsciousness. "

Danger due to excessive fluid intake

As well as the sweated salts are not sufficiently balanced, it comes to other symptoms such as headache, general fatigue but also muscle spasms and sometimes cardiac arrhythmia.

Older people and patients with heart failure must therefore be stopped on hot days to drink enough, plus one to two liters a day.

All other people should increase in view of the current heat wave, the daily amount of drinking. An expert of the German Red Cross (DRK) said that one should drink at least one liter of water per day.

However, according to Prof. Andresen, people with heart disease should not drink too much, as excessive fluid intake can cause them to worsen their cardiac output.

"Therefore, patients with heart disease should coordinate their drinking volume and also the medication intake with their supervising doctor. Daily weighing helps to determine the necessary amount of drinking, "says the expert.

Daily weighing to control the amount of drink

As stated in the Heart Foundation Communication, cardiac patients, especially those with heart failure, should weigh themselves in the morning before breakfast and after going to the toilet for the first time.

Generally, regular morning weighing is sufficient to control the fluid balance. By extra weighing in the evening, the fluid balance can be roughly estimated throughout the day.

If the body weight despite hydration increased by more than one pound, the amount of drinking is too high.

Anyone who, as a heart failure patient, has lost weight despite hydration should - only in consultation with the doctor - reduce the dosage of the dehydrating agent. (Ad)