2023-07-19 06:34:01
As a general rule, we avoid taking medication without the advice of health professionals: this is even more important during hot weather.
The summer heat and the heat wave put the body to the test and require special vigilance to protect yourself from the sun, stay hydrated and avoid heatstroke. The same goes for medicines: high temperatures can accentuate their undesirable effects. Thus certain molecules can increase perspiration and aggravate dehydration; others can cause fever, prevent the body from cooling down or even degenerate into hyperthermia. The elderly and children are particularly vulnerable, as are those with certain heart conditions, diabetes or obesity. But no one is really spared.
“When it’s hot, we tend not to drink enough and therefore lose water: if, instead of being diluted in five liters of blood, a medicine is diluted in four liters, it will be much more concentrated. And therefore its side effects will be more important”, deciphers for Liberation Pierre-Olivier Variot, president of the Union of community pharmacists (USPO). Diuretic drugs – mainly prescribed in cases of high blood pressure or heart failure – are particularly concerned: they aim to promote, via urine, the elimination of water and mineral salts. “If, in addition, the patient does not have a correct water absorption, he will be led to dehydrate even more quickly”, specifies the pharmacist from Côte-d’Or.
“All drugs are concerned”
This class of drugs is not the only one to cause problems. “There are also certain drugs once morest diabetes, cholesterol or migraine, certain neuroleptics and antipsychotics, some antiepileptic treatments…” lists Lucie Bourdy-Dubois, from the Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions of France (FSPF). Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen or aspirin, can also cause transient renal failure; paracetamol is not necessarily indicated in cases of heat stroke, because of its impact on the liver. In other words, “all the drugs are concerned, because all of them are diluted in the organic liquid which is the blood”, insists Pierre-Olivier Variot.
So when the thermometer climbs – a fortiori during a heat wave – vigilance must accompany each drug intake. It is therefore essential to stay well hydrated and consult health professionals to possibly adapt your treatment. Because “under no circumstances should a patient stop or reduce their medication alone, warns Lucie Bourdy-Dubois. As a general rule, we avoid taking it without the advice of health professionals: it is even more important during hot weather. For prescription drugs, a consultation with your doctor is essential: he will reassess, on a case-by-case basis, the risk-benefit balance and will adapt the treatment if necessary. With regard to self-service medicines, the preferred contact is the pharmacist. Because the risks depend on the pathology, the other drugs taken if there are any, the morphology and other characteristics specific to each person.
The pharmacist from Nièvre also points to another risk factor, this time directly linked to the sun and its rays: some treatments, such as certain antibiotics or once morest acne, are photosensitizing. That is to say, they make the skin more sensitive to the sun’s rays – “even under a spring sun”.
Conservation
The rise in temperatures poses another problem, beyond taking the drugs: their conservation. For the “dry” tablets, no worries, they are designed to resist for a long time, even to heat. “Obviously, the idea is not to leave them on the rear shelf of the car for hours, but if they stay for a few days or weeks at more than 30 degrees in the kitchen, it will not matter.” emphasizes Lucie Bourdy-Dubois. For those who would travel with their medication, it is possible to transport them in a cooler, but not to freeze them or stick them to ice packs.
The problem arises a little more for drugs in liquid form, which are more fragile. Creams or suppositories can oxidize: if they change smell or appearance, do not use them and go to a pharmacy. For those that can be stored in the refrigerator, it is better to use them immediately following taking them out of the fridge. “If I take the example of insulin pens, once you start using them, you can keep them at room temperature, explains the pharmacist. But if it is too hot at home – 30°C – and there is no cooler place, you should avoid putting them back in the fridge, then taking them out, and so on. It is better to go to your pharmacist who will assess the storage time according to the product.
Above all, faced with the multiplicity of scenarios and situations specific to each, the two pharmacists repeat it over and over once more: in case of doubt, it is always better to ask a health professional.
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