06/15/2026
Last week we learned about ways we can deter ticks from our home and from our bodies. Along with what to do if we find one attached to us and symptoms to be aware of after being bitten.
Today, we’ll continue our summertime first aid series with learning about heat illness. First, what is heat illness? This is a broad term that includes a range of medical conditions caused by the body's inability to regulate its core temperature. Did you know our body has a built-in thermostat? This process of maintaining our internal body temperature from becoming too hot or cold is called thermoregulation.
Many parts of our body work together including an area of our brain called the hypothalamus, along with our sweat glands, circulatory system, and skin to maintain a healthy body temp. between 97-99°F. When the weather is hot, thermoregulation kicks in and causes our body to sweat. How does this cool us off? When our body pushes water from the blood to the skin's surface as sweat, this moisture evaporates into the air & absorbs the body's internal heat, effectively cooling us down. How else does our body cool itself? To release excess heat from our body before it damages our organs, our blood vessels near the skin become wider. This directs warm blood away from our internal core and to our skin's surface instead. This is called vasodilatation.
What can affect healthy thermoregulation?
Extreme weather - High humidity with high temperatures can be dangerous. As we learned above, sweating helps cool our bodies. But when there’s too much moisture in the air outside, our sweat isn’t able to evaporate which makes it ineffective for cooling down our body. Sweat requires a dry enough environment to evaporate.
Dehydration - When we aren’t drinking enough fluids and/or sweating a lot, our blood volume becomes reduced which puts stress on our heart and impairs our body’s natural cooling abilities (vasodilation & sweating).
Endocrine disorders - This system is made up of glands and organs that produce hormones. If something interferes with hormone production, it can affect body temperature (ex. an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) can lead to a lower body temperature, while an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) can cause a higher body temperature).
Central nervous system (CNS) disorders - This includes conditions that affect the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. Some examples include brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, & neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis. These can affect the regulation of a healthy body temperature by not sending signals to let the body know when to cool itself down.
Next week, we’ll learn about the symptoms of heat illness & how to minimize the risks of it. Stay tuned!
"By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken for you are dust and to dust you shall return." -Genesis 3:19 ESV
