How To Beat The Heat, From A Mount Sinai South Nassau Expert

OCEANSIDE, NY — Long Island officially entered a heat watch Wednesday, with weather officials advising that temperatures in the mid-nineties and heat indexes well above the hundred-degree mark could be dangerous and possibly life-threatening if not managed carefully.

For Mount Sinai South Nassau chair of emergency medicine Dr. Jay Itzkowitz, the steps to staying cool during a heat wave that has been called "deadly" are straightforward: Staying indoors, staying cool and hydrating.

“The easiest thing to say is to stay indoors, stay in cool areas, and stay well hydrated. If someone does have to go out, wear light colored clothing, loose fitting clothing, and make sure to wear a hat with a brim,” Itzkowitz said. “If you're going to go out, make sure you take a water bottle with you to stay hydrated.”

To that point about hydration, Itzkowitz said the recommendation for normal days is that adults should be drinking six-to-eight glasses of water — about two liters — per day. On hot days with little overnight relief, like the ones coming this week, Itzkowitz said the recommended number increases to two-to-three liters.

That said, simply drinking more water isn’t a unanimous piece of advice. For some people, health conditions make drinking too much fluid a concern.

“For patients that have…heart problems, where they can't get too much fluid, they do have to be a little bit careful with their volume intake that they're taking,” Itzkowitz said. “They don’t want to take too much, to where they can't really absorb it, and it kind of goes to places in the body that it shouldn't. So, but generally, a safe would be two-to-three liters of fluid, whether it's water or Gatorade, or anything like that, to keep them hydrated.”

While the heat is the primary concern, Itzkowitz said exposure to high humidity and strong sun can also create health concerns on hot days.

“The sun exposure is there, the humidity is also a large aspect because, when it's humid, you usually don't sweat a lot,” Itzkowitz said. “A lot of liquid stays on you, you feel very sweaty, and the way the body regulates is that you sweat, and then it evaporates. So it actually cools you off that way. When you're sitting in the sun and you're continuously getting hotter because you're sitting in a heated area, you just continuously sweat. And then, at times, if it's very humid, that liquid can't evaporate. So you're not really going to cool off like the body wants or you to.”

With all of that said, Itzkowitz said there are several things that can happen to people who don’t stay cool enough — or don’t properly hydrate — on days with triple-digit heat indexes. Heat-related illness, Itzkowitz said, is a “whole spectrum," and hot days like these increase the odds of it occurring.

“Most of it is mild, won't cause any problems,” Itzkowitz said. “If you start getting these symptoms and you don't really address them, what could happen is you can go into something called heat stroke, which is where the body just can't regulate its temperature.”

Heat stroke cases, Itzkowitz said, are often characterized by a neurological queue, with patients becoming confused or passing out. As for more mild symptoms, such as dizziness, lightheadedness and cramping, Itzkowitz said those are “the body’s way of saying, ‘Hey, we’re going down a route that we shouldn’t…let’s get into a cold area, let’s start hydrating.’”

Finally, in a heat wave like this one, Itzkowitz had some advice for Long Islanders looking for a cool, refreshing treat to beat the heat.

“Some electrolyte drinks are very good, because, when you do sweat, some of your electrolytes also come out in your sweat,” Itzkowitz said. “So you kind of want to replace what you're losing with what you're taking in. For a day or two, any type of liquid, even plain water, just to keep someone hydrated, is not really going to cause any major issues. But, obviously, the electrolyte drinks that can replace what you're losing in your sweat is the best.”

According to the National Weather Service, the extreme heat watch will be in effect until Friday evening, with Long Island remaining under an extreme heat warning until Saturday evening.