Tips can help you cope with hot weather
As 90-degree temperatures came to Dutchess County even before May ended, it pays to be prepared even if you think you’re accustomed to the heat. The heat can get to any person of any age, but older people are more susceptible to heat’s effects for many reasons. Older people generally do not adapt to sudden changes in temperature as well as younger people; some medications may affect the body’s temperature regulation; and some chronic health conditions also interfere with temperature regulation.
If you don’t have air-conditioning at home, it will be helpful if you can get to an air-conditioned place, such as a movie theater, shopping mall, senior center or library. A house fan offers only partial respite from the heat; and if your home is as hot inside as it is outside, the fan will not help prevent heat-related illnesses. Opening windows at night and closing them in the early morning will prevent some hot air from getting into your house, but that’s also only a partial solution. More helpful are cool baths or showers, or even a tub full of cool water to soak your feet in. Cool water removes heat 25 times faster than cool air, as anybody who took an early-season dip into a swimming pool last month could tell you. If your home has an attic exhaust fan, run that as well. Attics can heat up to well above 120 degrees in the midsummer, and the attic fan will move this extremely hot air out of your house. In much the same way, a box fan placed in an upstairs window with the fan blowing out will draw cooler air up from downstairs and force warm air to the outside.
When you go outside, wear light and loose-fitting clothing. Light-colored clothing reflects sunlight away from you. Drink plenty of fluids, but stay away from alcohol and caffeine, both of which have dehydrating properties. Take frequent breaks in a cool or shady area, and hold off on more strenuous outdoor activities until it’s cooler, especially if the heat comes with humidity as it so often does in the Hudson Valley.
Summer hasn’t even started yet, so we’re sure to visit this topic again before long. If you have any tips for coping with hot weather you didn’t already see here, pass them along to the Office for the Aging’s outreach coordinator, Brian Jones, at bjones@dutchessny.gov. Your advice might be featured in a future Golden Living column!
Golden Living is prepared by the Dutchess County Office for the Aging, 27 High St., Poughkeepsie; call 845-486-2555, email: agingservices@dutchessny.gov; visit www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/Aging/AGIndex.htm