BEWARE OF THE SON THIS SUMMER

Northern Advocate, 30 November 1937, Page 14

BEWARE OF THE SON THIS SUMMER

WITH the Christmas holidays just '* round the corner, you will have planned your holiday, or are still making up your mind where to go and what to do.

In either case, it is a safe bet. that you are planning to spend your annual leave in the open air. Most of you will try to get as much sun as possible. Here is a word of warning. Every summer brings its inevitable tale of collapse, of fainting, sickness and death. Like the road fatalities, the number of victims does not. decrease. We do not learn from the experience of ethers, nor, indeedfi from cur own experiences of the year before. The appearance of the summer sun will turn the most level-headed person into a light-hearted holiday maker, and unless he is careful he will become one more sunstroke casually. Sunstroke Proper. Sunstroke proper was first investigated in the East. For years it scourged British troops stationed in India and the tropics. It was one of the major causes of sackness and mortality, whether the regiments wore on active service or carrying on their daily barrack routine. And the recommendations and findings of the military authorities provide a useful guide to the man in mufti with ids open shirt, bare head and excursion ticket to the seaside. In the first place, there are certain external conditions that are likely to encourage the attacks of the sun. Overcrowding in barracks was found to be a contributory cause. Translate this into terms of railway carriages, restaurants, lodging-houses and cinemas on hot days and learn what to avoid.

It, is not necessary for tho sun to bo beating directly on In the skin for one to be struck down. Heat is as potent as the actual sun. Factory workers standing in airless corners beneath low metal roofs or before open furnaces arc as likely to be victims of sunstroke as anyone in the open air. Au Obvious Lesson, Soldiers in tropical climates must take particular care in their washing. Personal uncleanlincss that clogs the skin encourages the ill effects of heat and sun. The lesson there is obvious. A morning bathe in the sea may not itself be sufficient ablution. Loose clothes arc worn in the East for more than reasons of comfort. Tight garments which cramp tho action of tho heart and the lungs may give a smart outline, but they are dangerous in hot weather. Even More Personal. But there are some even more personal “DontV to this question of sunstroke. Don’t: risk the sun if your health is generally low or if you suffer from any nervous complaint. Sunstroke is described in the medical world as the effects produced upon the central nervous system by exposure to the sun or to overheated air. So if you are worried or overworked, be careful. Ti you intend to be out in the sun be careful that you cat regularly. Food irregularities lower your resistance. And lastly, beware of intemperance. Intemperance in a marked degree powerfully predisposes a man to sun and heat stroke. Attacks of high sun fever are practically unknown among teetotallers. Not Arguments to Support Mrs. Grundy But the dangers of sunstroke need not be taken as arguments to support Mrs, Grundy. At a recent inquest on a cricketer who stood bareheaded in the sun too long, a doctor explained that a sunbather lying in a bathing dress would have run less risk. When a man wears shorts with an open shirt or a bathing dress the heat of the sun will be uniformly distributed over the body. Danger occurs when only one part of (tic body is exposed while the rest is fully and heavily covered. Heavy clothes should bo avoided, but the head should bo covered—especially the back of (ho neck. Cyclists arc wise to adopt the protection familiar in all stories of the Foreign Legions, a sun-shield hanging from tho back of a cap over tho nape of the neck. Useful Protection. This year fashion plates arc also, perhaps unwittingly, advocating useful protection. Tinted glasses may enhance a smart holiday turn-out and add interest to the eyes they conceal, but they are of real practical value, especially to those who have once before gone down with heat-stroke. If you have not got them and still must lie on your back in the sun. cover your eyes somehow—two pennies would do if you can keep them balanced. If you have already suffered from sunstroke you should be particularly careful. Often lor two years after-

wards you may bo susceptible to any

j form of heat, but once having been | ill, you should be warned. Youshouldknow that frequently the effects 'of sunstroke do not come on till a few hours after you have been exposed. that the strength of the sun is no indication of Its virulence. Men on leave from the tropics, where a topee is essential, often disdain our insular sun, but even the comparatively mild heat of a British summer can hold plenty of venom. Doctors are the first to admit that the vagaries of the sun conform to no fixed law, that one man may escape when his friend does not, that even careful precautions are not infallible. The effects of sunstroke themselves differ from case to case. They may bo fainting fits and giddiness with a high pulse and cold, clammy skin, or they may bo more frightening—apoplectic seizures—or less frightening—just headaches. Most Common Symptoms. The most common symptom is a high fever with aches and pains hive those in an attack of influenza, accompanied by heavy perspiration. The important thing then is to lower the temperature. Cold water and ice baths will often do this. But see your doctor first. The perspiration itself will help to lower the fever. The only safe advice—little consolation. though, afterwards —is lo bo careful, and if you distrust the ordinary precautions make quite sure by following in the footsteps of an Indian Army colonel. He treated himself as a photographic plate, wrapped his head and body in a ruby rod material and safely launched out in i the mad-day sun at a temperature of j 186 degrees Fahrenheit. ;