It’s hot, but we feel fine and are “strong” so to speak? Getting old doesn’t change anything. What is needed is to measure how much he is doing at home. The magic number: 26°C must be maintained indoors. In addition, serious thought should be given to finding an air-conditioned place.
Posted at 1:15am. Updated at 5:00 p.m.
What there is to know
In 2020, extreme heat in British Columbia killed 585 people.
The 2022 heat has claimed more than 60,000 lives in Europe, according to a study by researchers from France and Barcelona published a few weeks ago in Nature Medicine.
Authorities need to prepare and ensure that every elderly or vulnerable person has access to air conditioning at or near their home, a team of Canadian researchers argues. No, it’s not green, but it saves lives, they claim.
That’s one of the key messages Glen Kenny, associate professor of environmental physiology at the University of Ottawa, wants people to take away from the study he just published on the effects of heat — and air conditioning — on older people.
Professor Kenny and his team exposed 40 adults aged 64 to 79 to a simulated 9-hour heat wave at 37°C. They were then divided into two groups, one enjoying a two-hour rest period in an air-conditioned room and the other not.
Result: Those who were in an air-conditioned room for two hours had better cardiovascular functions than the others, whose mental status had also deteriorated.
Researchers found that access to an air-conditioned location for a few hours “successfully lowers body temperature and limits harmful effects on the heart.”
However, this protective effect is only temporary: as soon as you are no longer in an air-conditioned place, the elderly person is quickly weakened again by the heat.
However, do not think that these air-conditioned sanctuaries are useless, on the contrary. They are essential, stresses Professor Kenny in an interview, “but older people who leave home should be made to understand that this is not the right time to work in the garden and resume their usual activities, even if they will feel refreshed and invigorated when they return home.” They remain sensitive to heat.
The study by Mr. Kenny and his team finds that according to the literature on the subject, older people who stay in air-conditioned places have a 66% lower risk of dying from the heat.
Age, that key factor
As we age, says Kenny, the reality becomes relentless: the body’s defense mechanisms are less able to protect us from the heat. For example, we sweat less and high temperatures affect our blood pressure more.
Nobody likes to think they are vulnerable. An elderly person who is not ill will think that the neighbor is in danger and not himself as he is a former soccer player.
Glen Kenny, Research Chair in Environmental Physiology at the University of Ottawa
But in hot weather, this expert points out, being in good health is not enough to protect us. The decisive factor is the age on the measuring device.
We often avoid disturbing others, but that’s not the point here. There is no question whether the cognitive functions are optimal or not.
The reality, Professor Kenny points out, is that older people are more overwhelmed by the heat than they think. And most importantly, they are unaware that their condition will often suddenly deteriorate. That’s fine for a few hours, and suddenly just going to the toilet is too exhausting: “You can get dizzy, fall and break your hip.”
Older people who die during heat waves are certainly not alone, isolated or suffering from dementia. Among them are probably people who were normally very fit and thought they could withstand the weather well.
“If an elderly loved one tells you they are not hot, that everything is fine and that you should not worry, do not settle for that answer. Ask him to tell you exactly what the thermostat says,” stresses Mr Kenny, who also notes that the fans don’t offer any real protection to the elderly.
What happens when an elderly person is unable or flatly refuses to leave their home during a heat wave? If that is the case, Mr. Kenny replies that the authorities then need to be informed of the situation.
In British Columbia, where air conditioning was much less common than in Quebec (summers have historically been less hot there), there is now a greater awareness of the importance of protecting vulnerable people. Authorities just announced the distribution of 8,000 air conditioners to people on low incomes and vulnerable to heat.