HEAT PROBLEMS – INTRODUCTION

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy the summer — the long hot days, the outside activities, the sport and recreation enjoyed by most Australians.

I feel there are a few things we should know about the heat to avoid danger. The very young and the very old do not tolerate extremes of either heat or cold. In both, temperature regulation does not have the efficiency it should.

The body is like a motor. As it works, it produces heat. This heat must be got rid of or else our temperature will keep increasing. Most heat is lost by sweat evaporating from the skin, but this becomes ineffective when the atmospheric temperature is too high.

But very high temperatures can be experienced in parked cars when the windows are left closed and the car is exposed to direct heat, even on days of moderate temperature.

Babies and small children left in cars while mother is shopping can be placed in danger and the heat stroke that results could be fatal.

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THE PILL – LOW-DOSE PILL

The new low-dose Pill has a lessened risk of side effects — but it also has a reduced margin of error.

This means that, if one Pill is missed in the cycle, there is a small but definite risk that ovulation may occur resulting in pregnancy.

If a woman on the Pill develops vomiting or diarrhoea, there is a risk that the Pill will not be absorbed and so she may risk pregnancy. We are now aware that taking certain other drugs at the same time as the Pill may make it less efficient.

Most of the anti-convulsants do this and so epileptic women taking medication to control their disorder need to be careful if they also wish to take the Pill. Some antibiotics have also been shown to interfere with the potency of the Pill.

The reverse effect may also be seen in that the Pill interferes with the action of other drugs.

It now appears that it has an effect on the levels of vitamins in the body, the levels of the fat soluble vitamins, A and D, may be increased while the water soluble, Â and C, may be decreased.

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