How does your senior respond to higher heat levels? Some people don’t have any additional difficulties, but some older adults experience big swings in their health or managing chronic health issues due to weather. It’s important to understand how heat and other weather conditions affect your senior so that you can help her to manage what is able to be managed.
Dehydration and Weakness
Not drinking enough water is honestly one of the biggest issues that can affect your elderly family member when the weather is incredibly hot. Your senior can very quickly become dehydrated, even by just drinking slightly too little water. Dehydration does a lot of things, but it can also contribute to generally feeling weaker. That combined with the oppressive feeling of the heat itself can generally make you’re senior feel uncomfortable and unhappy.
Circulation Issues
Your elderly family member might be experiencing slightly worse symptoms if she has heart or circulation issues, too. Some of the medications your senior may take to help manage her circulatory issues could be affected by heat. She may also be changing her diet, which can affect her differently at different times of the year. Talking to your senior’s doctor, particularly about medication, can be a way to work out what’s affecting her.
Breathing Trouble
Lung issues and illness are another problem area in the heat. If your elderly family member has existing difficulties around breathing, higher humidity levels and even dry heat can make breathing that much more difficult. Oxygen therapy presents other concerns, too. There’s a lot that changes for your senior when the weather gets hotter and more humid. She may start to have breathing trouble even if she doesn’t have issues during cooler weather.
Blood Sugar Management
Something else that you might not think about is the role that high heat, dehydration, and medication can all play in issues your elderly family member has with managing her blood sugar levels. Whether she’s diabetic or headed there, it’s important to notice how heat impacts your senior’s blood sugar levels. As with other health issues, keeping her properly hydrated may be the key you’re seeking to keep her healthy.
Senior care providers can help you to keep track of some of these issues. They have experience in spotting these and other problems that are definitely avoidable and they can help you and your elderly family member to put a plan in place to do just that.
If you, or an aging loved-one, are considering hiring Elder Care in San Marcos, CA, or the Surrounding San Diego Area, please contact the caring staff at GoldenCare today. Call us at (760) 828-5201 today.
