How heat can affect your body

Summer is just around the corner and with it comes hot weather. Do you know how hot weather affects different parts of your body?

• Skin: Heavy sweating can lead to heat rash; ducts in the skin get blocked and sweat spills over into the surrounding skin, this causes skin irritation and redness.
• The brain: In the brain, the hypothalamus is responsible for regualting your body tempurature. When it reacts to heat, there is a sort of chemical inbalance. This impairs your judgment and triggers irritability.
• Central nervous system: When you are in extreme heat, this slows down the operation of the brain, which makes you more fatiuge.
• Muscles: Hypothermia refers to the overheating of the body. This can cause muscle spasms and cramps as you sweat out water and sodium.
• Kidneys: In extreme heat you become dehydrated and this caused the kidneys to conserve any sort of liquid that it can keep. So keep hydrating!
• Circulation: As blood vessels dilate, your blood pressure drops. This results in your heart beating faster in an effort to reestablish proper blood pressure.
  
  View the interactive infographic on the CBC website.

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