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Heart Health & Working in the Heat

By: Gretchen Bolander
Updated: August 1, 2011
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Joplin, MO- Summer heat and heavy lifting can be a dangerous combination for anyone working outside, but especially patients with heart problems. Dehydration is a big risk.

Shelby Allen with the Freeman Screen Team said, "It decreases your blood volume. And so your heart is looking for fluid, every cell in your body needs water. So if you have a decrease in water, everything is working intensely."

So it's important to drink plenty of water and sports drinks. It's also a priority to monitor medications. Added Allen, "A lot of times if people are taking their medications, they want to be sure to continue taking their medications. Be sure you do monitor your blood pressure maybe even a little more frequently than you normally do. Just so that it doesn't get out of control where we can't take care of it."

You should also consider establishing baseline health information. If that changes, you'll have good information to see just how strongly your body is affected. "Heart attack isn't person specific. You can't look at one person and say they're prone. We are all capable of having that."

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