How high and low temperatures can affect our health

Drastic changes in temperature cause five out of every ten visits to A&E

Both high and low temperatures have an effect on our health, and are determining factors for the body’s thermal regulation centre, having an adverse effect on some of our physiological functions, and even modifying the power of our defences in the face of pathogenic microorganisms, we are told specialists at our Murcia and Torrevieja Quirónsalud Hospitals. “Thus, therefore, while high temperatures will favour gastrointestinal pathologies, low temperatures are often more favourable for respiratory pathologies, the cause of five out of every ten visits to Accident and Emergency,” states Doctor Fulgencio Molina, Head of the Accident & Emergency Service at Hospital Quirónsalud Murcia.

One of the most significant effects of cold temperature is vasoconstriction, which causes changes at the cardiovascular level, increasing blood pressure and heart rate, as well as in the nasal area, where it causes mucus to become denser. “Vasoconstriction caused by low temperatures,” warns Doctor Gemma Ramón, (pictured) Family Physician at Quirónsalud Torrevieja, “increases the likelihood of myocardial infarction in patients with cardiovascular risk, and favours the formation of thrombi.

For its part, nasal vasoconstriction reduces our capabilities to eliminate the viruses we inhale which, together with the fact that we spend more time in places with no ventilation, such as offices, schools, etc., increases the risk of contagion of viral respiratory diseases such as catarrh, flu or pneumonia.”

This viral respiratory diseases can include low-grade fever, bone and muscle pain, general malaise, cough and mucus, and can even become complicated in patients with chronic illnesses such as cardiac diseases, COPD and diabetes, presenting, in these cases, more severe symptoms, such as high fever, chest pain and dyspnoea or difficulty breathing. This is also the case for obese patients, smoker, and people older than 65 or younger than 5, points out Doctor Ramón.

In order to avoid all these illnesses, the specialists at Quirónsalud recommend getting vaccinated, especially for the highrisk population, avoiding exposure to drastic changes in temperature, increase the ingestion of fruits, in particular citruses, and medical supervision for the most vulnerable population.