Heat Exhaustion

Often used to describe people with heat syncope (below) but more correctly can describe a pre-heatstroke condition.  People can have a variety of symptoms including dizziness, feeling ‘unwell’, nausea/vomiting, headache, exhaustion, muscular aches/pains.  Keep in mind that many of these symptoms are relatively non-specific in the exercising patient.  Whilst  Core Body Temperatures (CBTs) can be elevated it is under 40 degrees C (the point at which most people involuntarily ‘stop’) and they have no Central Nervous System (Brain) symptoms (eg. Confusion).  They are usually dehydrated and can have varying Sodium levels when tested. Depending on the level of dehydration and presence/absence of nausea patients may require intravenous fluid.  The importance for people is to firstly prevent heat exhaustion but if it occurs to recognize it early and slow down/stop (starts the cooling), check hydration and reassess.