NEW ORLEANS — We all react to heat differently. Some of us can handle it better. That's because of genetics, or you're used to it, after living in the New Orleans area for many years.
But how much is too much for our bodies to handle?
You don't need a thermometer to know it just doesn't feel good to be outside.
“We're dying. I saw earlier it's gonna be, it's supposed to get up to 100 degrees today,” said a woman in City Park.
“The heat is unreal. I can't even grow tomatoes it's so hot,” said another woman in City Park.
And two recent studies show that this summer's weather in Southeast Louisiana is the worst combination for our bodies to handle.
“The more you increase the relative humidity, the more you are at risk. Your metabolic rate is going to be much higher, which means that your body's working harder. So, it's going to be making your body hotter, then causing things to malfunction,” explained Dr. Corey Hébert, a pediatrician and Medical Correspondent for WWL-TV News.
One study finds that at only 87 degrees with 100% humidity, the body can't efficiently cool itself, even for young healthy people, because your sweat can't evaporate off of your skin. It just drips off. Older people are even more vulnerable. Another study finds that your metabolism, heart rate and breathing increase even when the air is 104 degrees with low 25% humidity. The body is exerting a lot more energy just to try to cool off.
Two families on the Northshore saw the danger of heat and dehydration firsthand. A few years ago Medicalwatch told the story of two high school football players who got rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of the muscles, at practice and could have died.
“There was like a rush that hit me. I threw up, and then I fell on the ground, and then I got a cramp in my right leg, and then it just started taking over my whole body,” Nick Vaccaro said in 2019.
“It was the most painful experience I've ever been through,” said Wayne Galloway in 2019.
“Some boys had called their moms crying. Other football players and they, some of them honestly thought he was dying,” said Wayne’s mother Melinda Ensley.
“And the problem with rhabdo is if a muscle cell breaks open it releases iron, (It) is a heavy metal. It accumulates and clogs the kidneys, and that's how rhabdo can result in kidney failure,” explained Dr. Jim Diaz, a public health expert at LSU Health Sciences Center.
The lesson they learned was how important hydration is with special drinks with sodium and electrolytes 30 to 60 minutes before practice, and water all during practice.
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