Effect that produces prolonged exposure to sunlight or extreme heat on the body. Sunlight is an important factor for life, especially for bone health, since vitamin D is produced in the body by exposure to the sun and is necessary for the absorption of calcium and its fixation to the bones. However, its excess is capable of producing various types of skin lesions, one of the most frequent is heatstroke. In addition, the subject is affected by conjunctivitis and retinal lesions. If the heat stroke is severe in nature, it is accompanied by fever, vomiting, pain headache, seizures, loss of consciousness, coma, and ultimately death.
Exposure to the sun for a short time causes redness of the skin, this is due to the action of ultraviolet rays. If exposure persists, the redness is accentuated and the skin becomes hot and very painful, in some cases the skin lifts and blisters appear that can break and release a yellowish liquid.
If you think someone may be suffering from heat stroke, you should quickly take them to a cool, shady place and call a doctor. Taking off excess clothing can help you cool off. Try to fan the person with fresh air while soaking the skin with warm water. This will help the person cool down.
Not all people experience these changes after the same degree of exposure to the sun, fair skin is more sensitive than brunettes, this is because dark skin has a higher amount of a pigment called Melanin, which has the function of filtering the rays from the sun, as a kind of sunscreen manufactured by the body.
In addition to skin color, there is a determining factor when it comes to heatstroke and that is the time of day the exposure occurs. Around noon, more ultraviolet rays enter the atmosphere, making heatstroke more likely to occur at that time of day. For this reason, it is advisable to sunbathe before 10 o'clock in the morning or after 3 in the afternoon.
It is necessary to distinguish sunstroke from solar erythema and heat stroke, which are much less serious. Sunstroke can have an effect even in the shade of a terrace or on sidewalks sheltered from the sun, due to the reflection of the sun's rays.
