The Beijing Olympic Games are held in August --- the hottest month of the year in Beijing. This has put spectators exposed to the fierce sunlight under threat of heatstroke.

Heatstroke can be classified into heat exhaustion and severe heatstroke. The signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion include excessive sweating, thirstiness, weakness, dizziness, giddiness, tinnitus, and nausea. Most patients with severe heatstroke may faint suddenly because of the heat. Before heatstroke, a patient may have a headache and feel numb, dizzy, nervous and confused. His/her skin may stop sweating and become dry, hot and flushing, with a body temperature of 40℃.

Heatstroke is an acute disease caused by disorders of the central nervous system and circulatory system, which may be inflicted when the body temperature regulation system is negatively impacted by high temperature (32℃) and humidity (>60%) and thus fails to perform its function. A variety of factors, such as high intensity of work in the fierce sunlight and under a high temperature, working long hours, lack of sleep, over-fatigue, etc., may lead to heatstroke. Besides, if the indoor temperature is high and ventilation is inadequate, those who are old, weak and overweight are quite vulnerable to heatstroke.

Quite a few sport events, for instance, tennis, rowing, beach volleyball matches, are held outdoors. When watching matches in sweltering, muggy weather, spectators should avoid strenuous activities and spend less time in the sunlight. It is also recommended to drink some water (especially boiled water or beverages containing salt) immediately after heavy sweating, and take some Shidishui capsules, Rendan pills or some other sunstroke prevention medicines if you have to work in high temperature. In addition, if you need to spend a long time in scorching sunlight, do wear long-sleeve shirt and sunhat (or use umbrella) and spread sunscreen cream on your skin.

If you find someone has got a heatstroke, you should immediately move the patient from the high- temperature environment to a shade with adequate ventilation, let him/her calm down, undo buttons on the clothes, and treat the patient with cool and refreshing beverage containing salt. If the heatstroke is severe, you must send the patient to hospital for further treatment after giving first-aid.

Here we suggest that when spectators go to matches in hot weather, they should bring with them heatstroke prevention medicines, for example, Shidishui capsules, Rendan pills, Fengyoujing balm, etc., in case of emergency. If you feel early symptoms of heatstroke, such as dizziness, headache, tinnitus, nausea, weakness, thirstiness, and so forth, you’d better ask for help as soon as possible.