Warm temperature can pose health risks to those with heart problems, according to the Philippine Heart Association.
Dr. Jeannica dela Peña of the PHA advocacy committee CPR Council said hot weather is not good for people with heart problems.
“If the temperature is high, the beat of the heart palpitates faster or at times, four times faster. If one’s heart is weak, the heat could add more stress to it to work,” she said.
Dela Peña is an adult cardiologist and advanced echocardiographer at The Medical City.
“Hot weather can be stressful to a normal person. What more to a person with a heart condition? That is the natural compensatory response,” she stressed.
Heart failure occurs when the heart muscle does not pump blood as it should.
“When it is hot, people perspire too much. That is why they drink water too often to avoid dehydration,” the heart doctor said.
“But to one with heart failure, that cannot be. The fluid could build up to one’s body,” she added.
She recommended for those with heart condition to stay outdoors only when the temperature is no longer high, not to wear dark-colored clothes and to drink just enough amount of water.