Doctors Warn 1 in 5 Antidepressant Users Face Higher Heatwave Risk
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Aug 21
Doctors Warn 1 in 5 Antidepressant Users Face Higher Heatwave Risk
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Aug 21
Summary
Common medications for depression, ADHD, high blood pressure and heart disease can impair sweating, thirst or blood flow, raising the risk of dehydration, heat exhaustion and other heat-related illness during heatwaves.
Around 1 in 5 people taking antidepressants experience excessive sweating, doctors said, while SSRIs, SNRIs, antipsychotics, stimulants, beta blockers, diuretics, ACE inhibitors and ARBs can each disrupt the body’s cooling response in different ways.
Older adults, people on multiple drugs and those without air conditioning or with outdoor exposure face the highest danger; one US study found medicated older patients may face higher summer heat-hospitalization risk even without a heatwave.
Doctors urged patients not to stop medication without medical advice and said prescribers should more routinely warn about heat-related side effects as climate change makes heatwaves more frequent and severe.