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American Morning

Paging Dr. Gupta: Summer Heat

Aired June 27, 2003 - 08:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We are paging Dr. Gupta today about summer heat.
Look at New York City today. Doesn't it look hot? That haze just tells you we're going to be in the mid 90s here. Can't you just smell it?

Anyway, the East Coast in particular has been sweltering. Other areas of the country also are sweating through above-average temperatures. Heat and humidity can be dangerous combinations. I guess we don't need to tell you that, but it's worth going over.

Sanjay is at CNN Center now to tell us what we should know about the dangers, but we probably don't, and this is the moment we get grilled, so to speak.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is my favorite segment ever probably. I get to ask you questions.

But it is somewhat of a serious topic. First of all, just really quickly, heat and heat-related deaths causing more deaths, than earthquakes, floods, lightning, hurricanes, all put together, which I thought was sort of a remarkable statistic as well.

But we do want to clear up some misconceptions about heat, and five of them. A little Q&A with you guys? I want to go ahead and get right to it.

The first question has to do with, what's worse for your health? Dry heat, or humidity?

Daryn or Miles, do want to give that a go?

O'BRIEN: I'm going to go dry.

KAGAN: I'm going dry, because you get...

O'BRIEN: The humidity at least gives you some moisture, which is important, right?

GUPTA: I think Miles just guessed what's Daryn's answer was. I'm going with her, what she said. I think humidity.

KAGAN: And that was a bad thing.

O'BRIEN: Humid heat is worse? GUPTA: It is worse, and that's because actually -- you guys are on the right track. It has to do with the evaporation of sweat. But when it's humid outside, it's much harder for that sweat to evaporate, and therefore, you stay hotter longer, you can't cool down as quickly.

O'BRIEN: So that dry heat thing is true.

KAGAN: It is a dry heat, exactly.

GUPTA: It's better, yes.

All right, second question here. Talking about going back and forth now between air-conditioning and going outside. Is it bad for your health to go back and forth between air-conditioning and the outside heat. What do you guys think?

KAGAN: Like the old, can you catch a cold from doing that? I don't think you can?

O'BRIEN: I think it's probably good. I think when it's hot, you should get as much a/c as you can, even if it's in doses like that.

GUPTA: You are both correct. Yes, it is good to be in the a/c to try and get some air-conditioning, at least for a little while. For most people, not a bad thing to go back and forth between the outside and the air-conditioning. In fact, probably a good thing. If you're very elderly, sometimes your body has a harder time acclimating.

O'BRIEN: Number three, can an electric fan actually prevent heat-related illnesses?

GUPTA: I would say not.

KAGAN: Can't hurt

O'BRIEN: Might make you feel better, but I think you're probably still internally just as hot as ever.

GUPTA: Daryn's definitely hedging, I'll say that.

KAGAN: I'm not committing.

GUPTA: Well, here's the issue with that. It's good up to a point, when it actually gets too hot, in the 90s, for example, all the electric fan is doing is actually circulating hot air. It's good up to a certain point, because it actually helps evaporate the sweat off your body, which is a cooling process, an important cooling process. When it's too hot, you really still got to get some a/c, even if it's in a public library a shopping mall, get some air-conditioning, at least for a couple of hours.

Fourth question: Can common medications actually make heat exposure worse -- common medications?

KAGAN: Absolutely. GUPTA: I would think so.

KAGAN: Yes to that one.

GUPTA: That was sort of an easy one.

O'BRIEN: That's a lay-up.

GUPTA: Yes, that's right.

The answer is true, it absolutely can. There are some medications -- and doctors will tell you this -- some medications, especially antibiotics, that actually make your skin more sensitive. And the doctors will tell you this before you take antibiotics like tetracycline, avoid the sun. Listen to them, because it's really important to do that.

O'BRIEN: They aren't kidding.

GUPTA: They're not kidding. And then a final question, who is more at risk, people that come from the south, or people that come from the north?

KAGAN: People from the north.

O'BRIEN: Neither. There's no difference. There's no such thing.

GUPTA: Miles is sort of right here, because it's sort of a trick question here, because northerners have more trouble acclimating.

KAGAN: That's what I was saying.

GUPTA: OK, you're both right. But the southerners also have more extreme heat problems oftentimes that they're exposed to, so they have problems as well. They're both sort of problematic. Again, bottom line here, drink plenty of fluids, wear light-colored clothing, and heat is accumulative, so get inside, get some air-conditioning, at least for a little while if you can, public libraries or shopping malls.

O'BRIEN: All right, Sanjay.

KAGAN: Great tips.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 27, 2003 - 08:51   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We are paging Dr. Gupta today about summer heat.
Look at New York City today. Doesn't it look hot? That haze just tells you we're going to be in the mid 90s here. Can't you just smell it?

Anyway, the East Coast in particular has been sweltering. Other areas of the country also are sweating through above-average temperatures. Heat and humidity can be dangerous combinations. I guess we don't need to tell you that, but it's worth going over.

Sanjay is at CNN Center now to tell us what we should know about the dangers, but we probably don't, and this is the moment we get grilled, so to speak.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is my favorite segment ever probably. I get to ask you questions.

But it is somewhat of a serious topic. First of all, just really quickly, heat and heat-related deaths causing more deaths, than earthquakes, floods, lightning, hurricanes, all put together, which I thought was sort of a remarkable statistic as well.

But we do want to clear up some misconceptions about heat, and five of them. A little Q&A with you guys? I want to go ahead and get right to it.

The first question has to do with, what's worse for your health? Dry heat, or humidity?

Daryn or Miles, do want to give that a go?

O'BRIEN: I'm going to go dry.

KAGAN: I'm going dry, because you get...

O'BRIEN: The humidity at least gives you some moisture, which is important, right?

GUPTA: I think Miles just guessed what's Daryn's answer was. I'm going with her, what she said. I think humidity.

KAGAN: And that was a bad thing.

O'BRIEN: Humid heat is worse? GUPTA: It is worse, and that's because actually -- you guys are on the right track. It has to do with the evaporation of sweat. But when it's humid outside, it's much harder for that sweat to evaporate, and therefore, you stay hotter longer, you can't cool down as quickly.

O'BRIEN: So that dry heat thing is true.

KAGAN: It is a dry heat, exactly.

GUPTA: It's better, yes.

All right, second question here. Talking about going back and forth now between air-conditioning and going outside. Is it bad for your health to go back and forth between air-conditioning and the outside heat. What do you guys think?

KAGAN: Like the old, can you catch a cold from doing that? I don't think you can?

O'BRIEN: I think it's probably good. I think when it's hot, you should get as much a/c as you can, even if it's in doses like that.

GUPTA: You are both correct. Yes, it is good to be in the a/c to try and get some air-conditioning, at least for a little while. For most people, not a bad thing to go back and forth between the outside and the air-conditioning. In fact, probably a good thing. If you're very elderly, sometimes your body has a harder time acclimating.

O'BRIEN: Number three, can an electric fan actually prevent heat-related illnesses?

GUPTA: I would say not.

KAGAN: Can't hurt

O'BRIEN: Might make you feel better, but I think you're probably still internally just as hot as ever.

GUPTA: Daryn's definitely hedging, I'll say that.

KAGAN: I'm not committing.

GUPTA: Well, here's the issue with that. It's good up to a point, when it actually gets too hot, in the 90s, for example, all the electric fan is doing is actually circulating hot air. It's good up to a certain point, because it actually helps evaporate the sweat off your body, which is a cooling process, an important cooling process. When it's too hot, you really still got to get some a/c, even if it's in a public library a shopping mall, get some air-conditioning, at least for a couple of hours.

Fourth question: Can common medications actually make heat exposure worse -- common medications?

KAGAN: Absolutely. GUPTA: I would think so.

KAGAN: Yes to that one.

GUPTA: That was sort of an easy one.

O'BRIEN: That's a lay-up.

GUPTA: Yes, that's right.

The answer is true, it absolutely can. There are some medications -- and doctors will tell you this -- some medications, especially antibiotics, that actually make your skin more sensitive. And the doctors will tell you this before you take antibiotics like tetracycline, avoid the sun. Listen to them, because it's really important to do that.

O'BRIEN: They aren't kidding.

GUPTA: They're not kidding. And then a final question, who is more at risk, people that come from the south, or people that come from the north?

KAGAN: People from the north.

O'BRIEN: Neither. There's no difference. There's no such thing.

GUPTA: Miles is sort of right here, because it's sort of a trick question here, because northerners have more trouble acclimating.

KAGAN: That's what I was saying.

GUPTA: OK, you're both right. But the southerners also have more extreme heat problems oftentimes that they're exposed to, so they have problems as well. They're both sort of problematic. Again, bottom line here, drink plenty of fluids, wear light-colored clothing, and heat is accumulative, so get inside, get some air-conditioning, at least for a little while if you can, public libraries or shopping malls.

O'BRIEN: All right, Sanjay.

KAGAN: Great tips.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com