First heat wave of season coming to Serbia, temperatures to be 30°C, doctors warn about what not to do

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Starting tomorrow, air temperatures in Serbia will exceed 30 degrees Celsius. This first heat wave of this season will be characterized by sunny, warm and humid weather, and the heat might cause many people to experience breathing difficulties.

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Professor Goran Stankovic, director of the Cardiology Clinic of the University Clinical Center of Serbia, told Dnevnik about what cardiologists advise, who should be more careful, younger or older, healthy people or those with certain chronic problems.

Temperature changes, as well as those related to air humidity and pressure, in most cases cause us a feeling of pronounced fatigue, sleepiness, bad mood, but there can also be more serious symptoms, because such sudden changes in weather, especially temperature, also affect our autonomous system, notes Professor Stankovic.

"When it's cold, blood vessels restrict in order to be able to provide perfusion to the most important vital organs. With such jumps, like tomorrow, to 30 degrees, of course blood vessels will dilate. So we have to try to adapt, and we will adapt by being moderate in everything and be careful, of course, to take prescribed medicines," he told Dnevnik.

During the previous two weeks, the professor noted, as many as 116 patients were admitted to intensive care of the coronary diseases ward at the Emergency Center. Out of that number, 67 patients came presenting acute heart attack symptoms.

"Seeing the doctor early, first of all calling an ambulance, rather than driving (to the hospital) in your own car, can save a life if within the first hour a patient with symptoms - such as clear chest pain that does not go away, which has nothing to do with movement or breathing - comes to the Clinical Center of Serbia. We are able to open the blood vessel in an urgent procedure and practically stop the process of the heart dying," the cardiologist points out.

The established STEMI network, as a way of organizing all centers that have catheterization rooms, allows each ambulance team to contact the dispatcher who informs the clinic and in 20 minutes the room is prepared and the team is ready to receive the patient.

"One of the most significant changes in the system of treating cardiovascular patients in the last ten years is the possibility to replace the aortic valve percutaneously, without surgery, without opening the chest, and this is practically an intervention that has significantly expanded the range of patients we can help.

According to some international recommendations, these are mostly patients over 75 years of age for whom surgery represents high risk and we have a council at the Clinical Center of Serbia for installation of these artificial valves, so each of the patients on our list is examined by the council, the risk is also assessed and the procedure done as soon as possible," stressed the doctor.

Everything in moderation

In the previous days, Serbia experienced temperature fluctuations, and from tomorrow we are expecting proper summer weather. High air humidity with a higher concentration of pollen leads to more frequent asthma attacks. The professor said that the advice both for chronic patients and healthy people is to do everything in moderation.

"So, don't go outside from 11 am until 4-5 pm unless that's really necessary, stay well hydrated, eat fresh fruits and vegetables instead of heavier food, use less salt, wear layered clothing that will adapt to the slightly cooler weather in the morning and warmer in the middle of the day. No strenuous physical activity," Dr. Goran Stankovic, director of the Cardiology Clinic of the University Clinical Center of Serbia, told the newspaper.

(Telegraf.rs)