Men have a biological clock too. Here’s what’s more likely when dads are over 50

10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

We hear a lot about women’s biological clock and how age affects the chance of pregnancy.

New research shows men’s fertility is also affected by age. When dads are over 50, the risk of pregnancy complications increases.

Data from more than 46 million births in the United States between 2011 and 2022 compared fathers in their 30s with fathers in their 50s.

While taking into account the age of the mother and other factors known to affect pregnancy outcomes, the researchers found every ten-year increase in paternal age was linked to more complications.

The researchers found that compared to couples where the father was aged 30–39, for couples where the dad was in his 50s, there was a:

  • 16% increased risk of preterm birth
  • 14% increased risk of low birth weight
  • 13% increase in gestational diabetes.

The older fathers were also twice as likely to have used assisted reproductive technology, including IVF, to conceive than their younger counterparts.

Steven van Loy/Unsplash

Dads are getting older

In this US study, the mean age of all fathers increased from 30.8 years in 2011 to 32.1 years in 2022.

In that same period, the proportion of men aged 50 years or older fathering a child increased from 1.1% to 1.3%.

We don’t know the proportion of men over 50 years who father children in Australia, but data shows the average age of fathers has increased.

In 1975 the median age of Australian dads was 28.6 years. This jumped to 33.7 years in 2022.

How male age affects getting pregnant

As we know from media reports of celebrity dads, men produce sperm from puberty throughout life and can father children well into old age.

However, there is a noticeable decline in sperm quality from about age 40.

Female partners of older men take longer to achieve pregnancy than those with younger partners.

A study of the effect of male age on time to pregnancy showed women with male partners aged 45 or older were almost five times more likely to take more than a year to conceive compared to those with partners aged 25 or under. More than three quarters (76.8%) of men under the age of 25 years impregnated their female partners within six months, compared with just over half (52.9%) of men over the age of 45.

Pooled data from ten studies showed that partners of older men are also more likely to experience miscarriage. Compared to couples where the male was aged 25 to 29 years, paternal age over 45 years increased the risk of miscarriage by 43%.

Older men are more likely to need IVF

Outcomes of assisted reproductive technology, such as IVF, are also influenced by the age of the male partner.

A review of studies in couples using assisted reproductive technologies found paternal age under 40 years reduced the risk of miscarriage by about 25% compared to couples with men aged over 40.

Having a male under 40 years also almost doubled the chance of a live birth per treatment cycle. With a man over 40, 17.6% of treatment rounds resulted in a live birth, compared to 28.4% when the male was under 40.

How does male age affect the health outcomes of children?

As a result of age-related changes in sperm DNA, the children of older fathers have increased risk of a number of conditions. Autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and leukaemia have been linked to the father’s advanced years.

A review of studies assessing the impact of advanced paternal age reported that children of older fathers have increased rates of psychiatric disease and behavioural impairments.

But while the increased risk of adverse health outcomes linked to older paternal age is real, the magnitude of the effect is modest. It’s important to remember that an increase in a very small risk is still a small risk and most children of older fathers are born healthy and develop well.

Improving your health can improve your fertility

In addition to the effects of older age, some chronic conditions that affect fertility and reproductive outcomes become more common as men get older. They include obesity and diabetes which affect sperm quality by lowering testosterone levels.

While we can’t change our age, some lifestyle factors that increase the risk of pregnancy complications and reduce fertility, can be tackled. They include:

Get the facts about the male biological clock

Research shows men want children as much as women do. And most men want at least two children.

Yet most men lack knowledge about the limitations of female and male fertility and overestimate the chance of getting pregnant, with and without assisted reproductive technologies.

We need better public education, starting at school, to improve awareness of the impact of male and female age on reproductive outcomes and help people have healthy babies.

For men wanting to improve their chance of conceiving, the government-funded sites Healthy Male and Your Fertility are a good place to start. These offer evidence-based and accessible information about reproductive health, and tips to improve your reproductive health and give your children the best start in life.

Karin Hammarberg, Senior Research Fellow, Global and Women’s Health, School of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Monash University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Don’t Forget…

Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

Recommended

  • Thinking of trying a new diet? 4 questions to ask yourself before you do
  • 4 things ancient Greeks and Romans got right about mental health
    Ancient wisdom on mental health: from Homer’s struggles to holistic healing techniques, discover what the Greeks and Romans understood about the mind’s influence on our well-being.

Learn to Age Gracefully

Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • Saunas: Health Benefits (& Caveats)

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    The Heat Is On

    In Tuesday’s newsletter, we asked you your (health-related) opinion on saunas, and got the above-depicted, below-described, set of responses:

    • About 53% said it is “a healthful activity with many benefits”
    • About 25% said it is “best avoided; I feel like I’m dying in there”
    • About 12% said “it feels good and therefore can’t be all bad”

    So what does the science say?

    The heat of saunas carries a health risk: True or False?

    False, generally speaking, for any practical purposes. Of course, anything in life comes with a health risk, but statistically speaking, your shower at home is a lot more dangerous than a sauna (risk of slipping with no help at hand).

    It took a bit of effort to find a paper on the health risks of saunas, because all the papers on PubMed etc coming up for those keywords were initially papers with “reduces the risk of…”, i.e. ways in which the sauna is healthy.

    However, we did find one:

    ❝Contraindications to sauna bathing include unstable angina pectoris, recent myocardial infarction, and severe aortic stenosis.

    Sauna bathing is safe, however, for most people with coronary heart disease with stable angina pectoris or old myocardial infarction.

    Very few acute myocardial infarctions and sudden deaths occur in saunas, but alcohol consumption during sauna bathing increases the risk of hypotension, arrhythmia, and sudden death, and should be avoided. ❞

    ~ Dr. Matti Hannuksela & Dr. Samer Ellahham

    Source: Benefits and risks of sauna bathing

    So, very safe for most people, safe even for most people with heart disease, but there are exceptions so check with your own doctor of course.

    And drinking alcohol anywhere is bad for the health, but in a sauna it’s a truly terrible idea. As an aside, please don’t drink alcohol in the shower, either (risk of slipping with no help at hand, and this time, broken glass too).

    On the topic of it being safe for most people’s hearts, see also:

    Beneficial effects of sauna bathing for heart failure patients

    As an additional note, those who have a particular sensitivity to the heat, may (again please check with your own doctor, as your case may vary) actually benefit from moderate sauna use, to reduce the cardiovascular strain that your body experiences during heatwaves (remember, you can get out of a sauna more easily than you can get out of a heatwave, so for many people it’s a lot easier to do moderation and improve thermoregulatory responses):

    Passive heat therapy: a promising preventive measure for people at risk of adverse health outcomes during heat extremes

    Sauna usage can bring many health benefits: True or False?

    True! Again, at least for most people. As well as the above-discussed items, here’s one for mortality rates in healthy Finnish men:

    Sauna bathing and mortality risk: unraveling the interaction with systolic blood pressure in a cohort of Finnish men

    Not only that, also…

    ❝The Finnish saunas have the most consistent and robust evidence regarding health benefits and they have been shown to decrease the risk of health outcomes such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, thromboembolism, dementia, and respiratory conditions; may improve the severity of musculoskeletal disorders, COVID-19, headache and flu, while also improving mental well-being, sleep, and longevity.

    Finnish saunas may also augment the beneficial effects of other protective lifestyle factors such as physical activity.

    The beneficial effects of passive heat therapies may be linked to their anti-inflammatory, cytoprotective and anti-oxidant properties and synergistic effects on neuroendocrine, circulatory, cardiovascular and immune function.

    Passive heat therapies, notably Finnish saunas, are emerging as potentially powerful and holistic strategies to promoting health and extending the healthspan in all populations. ❞

    ~ Dr. Jari Laukkanen & Dr. Setor Kunutsor

    Source: The multifaceted benefits of passive heat therapies for extending the healthspan: A comprehensive review with a focus on Finnish sauna

    (the repeated clarification of “Finnish sauna” is not a matter of fervent nationalism, by the way, but rather a matter of disambiguating it from Swedish sauna, which has some differences, most notably a lack of steam)

    That reminds us: in Scandinavia, it is usual to use a sauna naked, and in Finland in particular, it is a common social activity amongst friends, coworkers, etc. In the US, many people are not so comfortable with nudity, and indeed, many places that provide saunas, may require the wearing of swimwear. But…

    Just one problem: if you’re wearing swimwear because you’ve just been swimming in a pool, you now have chlorinated water soaked into your swimwear, which in the sauna, will become steam + chlorine gas. That’s not so good for your health (and is one reason, beyond tradition and simple normalization, for why swimwear is usually not permitted in Finnish saunas).

    Want to read more?

    You might like our previous main feature,

    Turning Up The Heat Against Diabetes & Alzheimer’s ← you guessed it, sauna may be beneficial against these too

    Take care!

    Share This Post

  • What’s behind rising heart attack rates in younger adults

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Deaths from heart attacks have been in decline for decades, thanks to improved diagnosis and treatments. But, among younger adults under 50 and those from communities that have been marginalized, the trend has reversed. 

    More young people have suffered heart attacks each year since the 2000s—and the reasons why aren’t always clear. 

    Here’s what you need to know about heart attack trends in younger adults.

    Heart attack deaths began declining in the 1980s

    Heart disease has been a leading cause of death in the United States for more than a century, but rates have declined for decades as diagnosis and treatments improved. In the 1950s, half of all Americans who had heart attacks died, compared to one in eight today. 

    A 2023 study found that heart attack deaths declined 4 percent a year between 1999 and 2020. 

    The downward trend plateaued in the 2000s as heart attacks in young adults rose

    In 2012, the decline in heart disease deaths in the U.S. began to slow. A 2018 study revealed that a growing number of younger adults were suffering heart attacks, with women more affected than men. Additionally, younger adults made up one-third of heart attack hospitalizations, with one in five heart attack patients being under 40.

    The following year, data showed that heart attack rates among adults under 40 had increased steadily since 2006. Even more troubling, young patients were just as likely to die from heart attacks as patients more than a decade older. 

    Why are more younger adults having heart attacks?

    Heart attacks have historically been viewed as a condition that primarily affects older adults. So, what has changed in recent decades that puts younger adults at higher risk? 

    Higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure

    Several leading risk factors for heart attacks are rising among younger adults.
    Between 2009 and 2020, diabetes and obesity rates increased in Americans ages 20 to 44. 

    During the same period, hypertension, or high blood pressure, rates did not improve in younger adults overall and worsened in young Hispanic people. Notably, young Black adults had hypertension rates nearly twice as high as the general population. 

    Hypertension significantly increases the risk of heart attack and cardiovascular death in young adults.

    Increased substance use

    Substance use of all kinds increases the risk of cardiovascular issues, including heart attacks. A recent study found that cardiovascular deaths associated with substance use increased by 4 percent annually between 1999 and 2019. 

    The rise in substance use-related deaths has accelerated since 2012 and was particularly pronounced among women, younger adults (25-39), American Indians and Alaska Natives, and those in rural areas.

    Alcohol was linked to 65 percent of the deaths, but stimulants (like methamphetamine) and cannabis were the substances associated with the greatest increase in cardiovascular deaths during the study period. 

    Poor mental health

    Depression and poor mental health have been linked to cardiovascular issues in young adults. A 2023 study of nearly 600,000 adults under 50 found that depression and self-reported poor mental health are a risk factor for heart disease, regardless of socioeconomic or other cardiovascular risk factors. 

    Adults under 50 years consistently report mental health conditions at around twice the rate of older adults. Additionally, U.S. depression rates have trended up and reached an all-time high in 2023, when 17.8 percent of adults reported having depression. 

    Depression rates are rising fastest among women, adults under 44, and Black and Hispanic populations. 

    COVID-19

    COVID-19 can cause real, lasting damage to the heart, increasing the risk of certain cardiovascular diseases for up to a year after infection. Vaccination reduces the risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular events caused by COVID-19 infection.

    The first year of the pandemic marked the largest single-year spike in heart-related deaths in five years, including a 14 percent increase in heart attacks. In the second year of the pandemic, heart attacks in young adults increased by 30 percent. 

    Heart attack prevention 

    Not every heart attack is preventable, but everyone can take steps to reduce their risks. The American Heart Association recommends managing health conditions that increase heart disease risk, including diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure. 

    Lifestyle changes like improving diet, reducing substance use, and increasing physical activity can also help reduce heart attack risk. 

    For more information, talk to your health care provider.

    This article first appeared on Public Good News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

    Share This Post

  • Our family is always glued to separate devices. How can we connect again?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    It’s Saturday afternoon and the kids are all connected to separate devices. So are the parents. Sounds familiar?

    Many families want to set ground rules to help them reduce their screen time – and have time to connect with each other, without devices.

    But it can be difficult to know where to start and how to make a plan that suits your family.

    First, look at your own screen time

    Before telling children to “hop off the tech”, it’s important parents understand how much they are using screens themselves.

    Globally, the average person spends an average of six hours and 58 minutes on screens each day. This has increased by 13%, or 49 minutes, since 2013.

    Parents who report high screen time use tend to see this filtering down to the children in their family too. Two-thirds of primary school-aged children in Australia have their own mobile screen-based device.

    Australia’s screen time guidelines recommended children aged five to 17 years have no more than two hours of sedentary screen time (excluding homework) each day. For those aged two to five years, it’s no more than one hour a day. And the guidelines recommend no screen time at all for children under two.

    Yet the majority of children, across age groups, exceed these maximums. A new Australian study released this week found the average three-year-old is exposed to two hours and 52 minutes of screen time a day.

    Some screen time is OK, too much increases risks

    Technology has profoundly impacted children’s lives, offering both opportunities and challenges.

    On one hand, it provides access to educational resources, can develop creativity, facilitates communication with peers and family members, and allows students to seek out new information.

    On the other hand, excessive screen use can result in too much time being sedentary, delays in developmental milestones, disrupted sleep and daytime drowsiness.

    Tired boy looks out the window
    Disrupted sleep can leave children tired the next day.
    Yulia Raneva/Shutterstock

    Too much screen time can affect social skills, as it replaces time spent in face-to-face social interactions. This is where children learn verbal and non-verbal communication, develop empathy, learn patience and how to take turns.

    Many families also worry about how to maintain a positive relationship with their children when so much of their time is spent glued to screens.

    What about when we’re all on devices?

    When families are all using devices simultaneously, it results in less face-to-face interactions, reducing communication and resulting in a shift in family dynamics.

    The increased use of wireless technology enables families to easily tune out from each other by putting in earphones, reducing the opportunity for conversation. Family members wearing earphones during shared activities or meals creates a physical barrier and encourages people to retreat into their own digital worlds.

    Wearing earphones for long periods may also reduce connection to, and closeness with, family members. Research from video gaming, for instance, found excessing gaming increases feelings of isolation, loneliness and the displacement of real-world social interactions, alongside weakened relationships with peers and family members.

    How can I set screen time limits?

    Start by sitting down as a family and discussing what limits you all feel would be appropriate when using TVs, phones and gaming – and when is an appropriate time to use them.

    Have set rules around family time – for example, no devices at the dinner table – so you can connect through face-to-face interactions.

    Mother talks to her family at the dinner table
    One rule might be no devices at the dinner table.
    Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

    Consider locking your phone or devices away at certain periods throughout the week, such as after 9pm (or within an hour of bedtime for younger children) and seek out opportunities to balance your days with physical activities, such kicking a footy at the park or going on a family bush walk.

    Parents can model healthy behaviour by regulating and setting limits on their own screen time. This might mean limiting your social media scrolling to 15 or 30 minutes a day and keeping your phone in the next room when you’re not using it.

    When establishing appropriate boundaries and ensuring children’s safety, it is crucial for parents and guardians to engage in open communication about technology use. This includes teaching critical thinking skills to navigate online content safely and employing parental control tools and privacy settings.

    Parents can foster a supportive and trusting relationship with children from an early age so children feel comfortable discussing their online experiences and sharing their fears or concerns.

    For resources to help you develop your own family’s screen time plan, visit the Raising Children Network.The Conversation

    Elise Waghorn, Lecturer, School of Education, RMIT University

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

    Share This Post

Related Posts

  • Thinking of trying a new diet? 4 questions to ask yourself before you do
  • This Is Your Brain on Food – by Dr. Uma Naidoo

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    “Diet will fix your brain” is a bold claim that often comes from wishful thinking and an optimistic place where anecdote is louder than evidence. But, diet does incontrovertibly also affect brain health. So, what does Dr. Naidoo bring to the table?

    The author is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, a professional chef who graduated with her culinary school’s most coveted award, and a trained-and-certified nutritionist. Between those three qualifications, it’s safe to she knows her stuff when it comes to the niche that is nutritional psychiatry. And it shows.

    She takes us through the neurochemistry involved, what chemicals are consumed, made, affected, inhibited, upregulated, etc, what passes through the blood-brain barrier and what doesn’t, what part the gut really plays in its “second brain” role, and how we can leverage that—as well as mythbusting a lot of popular misconceptions about certain foods and moods.

    There’s hard science in here, but presented in quite a pop-science way, making for a very light yet informative read.

    Bottom line: if you’d like to better understand what your food is doing to your brain (and what it could be doing instead), then this is a top-tier book for you!

    Click here to check out This Is Your Brain On Food, and get to know yours!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • Rapamycin Can Slow Aging By 20% (But Watch Out)

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Rapamycin’s Pros & Cons

    Rapamycin is generally heralded as a wonderdrug that (according to best evidence so far) can slow down aging, potentially adding decades to human lifespan—and yes, healthspan.

    It comes from a kind of soil bacteria, which in turn comes from the island of Rapa Nui (a Chilean territory best known for its monumental moai statues), hence the name rapamycin.

    Does it work?

    Yes! Probably! With catches!

    Like most drugs that are tested for longevity-inducing properties, research in humans is very slow. Of course for drugs in general, they must go through in vitro and in vivo animal testing first before they can progress to human randomized clinical trials, but for longevity-inducing drugs, it’s tricky to even test in humans, without waiting entire human lifetimes for the results.

    Nevertheless, mouse studies are promising:

    Rapamycin: An InhibiTOR of Aging Emerges From the Soil of Easter Island

    (“Easter Island” is another name given to the island of Rapa Nui)

    That’s not a keysmash in the middle there, it’s a reference to rapamycin’s inhibitory effect on the kinase mechanistic target of rapamycin, sometimes called the mammalian target of rapamycin, and either way generally abbreviated to “mTOR”—also known as “FK506-binding protein 12-rapamycin-associated protein 1” or “FRAP1“ to its friends, but we’re going to stick with “mTOR”.

    What’s relevant about this is that mTOR regulates cell growth, cell proliferation, cell motility, cell survival, protein synthesis, autophagy, and transcription.

    Don’t those words usually get associated with cancer?

    They do indeed! Rapamycin and its analogs have well-demonstrated anti-cancer potential:

    ❝Rapamycin, the naturally occurring inhibitor of mTOR, along with a number of recently developed rapamycin analogs (rapalogs) consisting of synthetically derived compounds containing minor chemical modifications to the parent structure, inhibit the growth of cell lines derived from multiple tumor types in vitro, and tumor models in vivo.

    Results from clinical trials indicate that the rapalogs may be useful for the treatment of subsets of certain types of cancer.❞

    ~ mTOR and cancer therapy

    …and as such, gets used sometimes as an anticancer drug—especially against renal cancer. See also:

    Research perspective: Cancer prevention with rapamycin

    What’s the catch?

    Aside from the fact that its longevity-inducing effects are not yet proven in humans, the mouse models find its longevity effects to be sex-specific, extending the life of male mice but not female ones:

    Rapamycin‐mediated mouse lifespan extension: Late‐life dosage regimes with sex‐specific effects

    One hypothesis about this is that it may have at least partially to do with rapamycin’s immunomodulatory effect, bearing in mind that estrogen is immune-enhancing and testosterone is immunosuppressant.

    And rapamycin? That’s another catch: it is an immunosuppressant.

    This goes in rapamycin’s favor for its use to avoiding rejection when it comes to some transplants (most notably including for kidneys), though the very same immunosuppressant effect is a reason it is contraindicated for certain other transplants (such as in liver or lung transplants), where it can lead to an unacceptable increase in risk of lymphoma and other malignancies:

    Prescribing Information: Rapamune, Sirolimus Solution / Sirolimus Tablet

    (Sirolimus is another name for rapamycin, and Rapamune is a brand name)

    What does this mean for the future?

    Researchers think that rapamycin may be able to extend human lifespan to a more comfortable 120–125 years, but acknowledge there’s quite a jump to get there from the current mouse studies, and given the current drawbacks of sex-specificity and immunosuppression:

    Advances in anti-aging: Rapamycin shows potential to extend lifespan and improve health

    Noteworthily, rapamycin has also shown promise in simultaneously staving off certain diseases associated most strongly with aging, including Alzheimer’s and cardiac disease—or even, starting earlier, to delay menopause, in turn kicking back everything else that has an uptick in risk peri- or post-menopause:

    Effect of Rapamycin in Ovarian Aging (Rapamycin)

    👆 an upcoming study whose results are thus not yet published, but this is to give an idea of where research is currently at. See also:

    Pilot Study Evaluates Weekly Pill to Slow Ovarian Aging, Delay Menopause

    Where can I try it?

    Not from Amazon, that’s for sure!

    It’s still tightly regulated, but you can speak with your physician, especially if you are at risk of cancer, especially if kidney cancer, about potentially being prescribed it as a preventative—they will be able to advise about safety and applicability in your personal case.

    Alternatively, you can try getting your name on the list for upcoming studies, like the one above. ClinicalTrials.gov is a great place to watch out for those.

    Meanwhile, take care!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • Sun, Sea, And Sudden Killers To Avoid

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Stay Safe From Heat Exhaustion & Heatstroke!

    For most of us, summer is upon us now. Which can be lovely… and also bring new, different health risks. Today we’re going to talk about heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

    What’s the difference?

    Heat exhaustion is a milder form of heatstroke, but the former can turn into the latter very quickly if left untreated.

    Symptoms of heat exhaustion include:

    • Headache
    • Nausea
    • Cold sweats
    • Light-headedness

    Symptoms of heatstroke include the above and also:

    • Red/flushed-looking skin
    • High body temperature (104ºF / 40ºC)
    • Disorientation/confusion
    • Accelerated heart rate

    Click here for a handy downloadable infographic you can keep on your phone

    What should we do about it?

    In the case of heatstroke, call 911 or the equivalent emergency number for the country where you are.

    Hopefully we can avoid it getting that far, though:

    Prevention first

    Here are some top tips to avoid heat exhaustion and thus also avoid heatstroke. Many are common sense, but it’s easy to forget things—especially in the moment, on a hot sunny day!

    • Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
      • (Non-sugary) iced teas, fruit infusions, that sort of thing are more hydrating than water alone
      • Avoid alcohol
        • If you really want to imbibe, rehydrate between each alcoholic drink
    • Time your exercise with the heat in mind
      • In other words, make any exercise session early or late in the day, not during the hottest period
    • Use sunscreen
      • This isn’t just for skin health (though it is important for that); it will also help keep you cooler, as it blocks the UV rays that literally cook your cells
    • Keep your environment cool
      • Shade is good, air conditioning / cooling fans can help.
      • A wide-brimmed hat is portable shade just for you
    • Wear loose, breathable clothing
      • We write about health, not fashion, but: light breathable clothes that cover more of your body are generally better healthwise in this context, than minimal clothes that don’t, if you’re in the sun.
    • Be aware of any medications you’re taking that will increase your sensitivity to heat.
      • This includes medications that are dehydrating, and includes most anti-depressants, many anti-nausea medications, some anti-allergy medications, and more.
      • Check your labels/leaflets, look up your meds online, or ask your pharmacist.

    Treatment

    If prevention fails, treatment is next. Again, in the case of heatstroke, it’s time for an ambulance.

    If symptoms are “only” of heat exhaustion and are more mild, then:

    • Move to a cooler location
    • Rehydrate again
    • Remove clothing that’s confining or too thick
      • What does confining mean? Clothing that’s tight and may interfere with the body’s ability to lose heat.
        • For example, you might want to lose your sports bra, but there is no need to lose a bikini, for instance.
    • Use ice packs or towels soaked in cold water, applied to your body, especially wear circulation is easiest to affect, e.g. forehead, wrists, back of neck, under the arms, or groin.
    • A cool bath or shower, or a dip in the pool may help cool you down, but only do this if there’s someone else around and you’re not too dizzy.
      • This isn’t a good moment to go in the sea, no matter how refreshing it would be. You do not want to avoid heatstroke by drowning instead.

    If full recovery doesn’t occur within a couple of hours, seek medical help.

    Stay safe and have fun!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails: