Some medications and heat waves don’t mix, experts say precautions needed

As Central and Eastern Canada brace for the year’s first heat wave, medical experts are warning of the particular health risks faced by people taking medications that can alter the body’s response to extreme temperatures.Dr. Samantha Green, a family physician at Unity Health Toronto – a network comprised of three hospitals – said the increasing frequency of heat waves as the climate changes has brought the role of medications to the forefront.People who are more at risk in extreme heat events include seniors, infants and toddlers, as well as those with chronic physical and mental health conditions. Sometimes those health conditions can impair thermal regulation, making it hard for people to cope with heat, Green said. Compounding the problem, certain drugs taken for those conditions can then further impede heat regulation, although experts stress that is not a reason to skip medications.