Your Checkup: Health Conversations for Motivated Patients
Ever leave the doctor’s office more confused than when you walked in? Your Checkup: Health Conversations for Motivated Patients is your health ally in a world full of fast appointments and even faster Google searches. Each week, a board certified family medicine physician and a pediatric nurse sit down to answer the questions your doctor didn’t have time to.
From understanding diabetes and depression to navigating obesity, high blood pressure, and everyday wellness—we make complex health topics simple, human, and actually useful. Whether you’re managing a condition, supporting a loved one, or just curious about your body, this podcast helps you get smart about your health without needing a medical degree.
Because better understanding leads to better care—and you deserve both.
Your Checkup: Health Conversations for Motivated Patients
Understanding Heat-Related Illness: Surviving Summer's Deadly Threat
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We explore heat-related illnesses, from mild conditions to life-threatening emergencies, providing crucial information for staying safe during hot weather. We break down the six types of heat-related conditions and explain who's most vulnerable during extreme temperatures.
• Young children, older adults, and those with chronic conditions face higher risks of heat illness
• People taking beta blockers or diuretics may have compromised temperature regulation
• Heat rash, cramps, and edema are milder conditions typically resolved with cooling and hydration
• Heat syncope (fainting from heat) often occurs when standing in hot environments for extended periods
• Heat exhaustion presents with heavy sweating, weakness, and headaches but normal or slightly elevated body temperature
• Heat stroke is a medical emergency characterized by confusion, possible seizures, and core temperatures above 104°F
• Prevention includes staying in shade or air conditioning, wearing loose clothing, and hydrating before feeling thirsty
• Avoid outdoor exertion between 11 AM and 4 PM during hot days
• Check on vulnerable loved ones during extreme heat events
• Children and pets may not effectively communicate when overheating
Stay healthy, friends! Connect with us on Instagram or Threads with your questions and episode ideas - we're trying to build a community and would love to hear from you.
Production and Content: Edward Delesky, MD & Nicole Aruffo, RN
Artwork: Olivia Pawlowski
Hi, welcome to your checkup. We are the patient education podcast, where we bring conversations from the doctor's office to your ears. On this podcast, we try to bring medicine closer to its patients. I'm Ed Delesky, a family medicine doctor in the Philadelphia area, and I'm Nicole.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Aruffo, I'm a nurse.
Ed Delesky, MD:And we are so excited you were able to join us here again today. Okay, so we're going to get started today, and our banter section is very big today. If you have zero interest in our life, feel free to skip ahead to the next chapter where we're not doing this, but if you are interested in the other things that we have to say, stay tuned, because we've got a long list of things to talk about. We do Well. First and foremost, congratulations to dan and monisha on getting engaged. That was a beautiful thing yeah, that was last night.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Well, yeah, it was really nice. It was at um, well, they like got engaged and there was like a party after at philadelphia. Is it distilling or distillery? I think it's distilling, but it was so good. The drinks were yummy.
Ed Delesky, MD:So great.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Best cheesesteak egg rolls we've ever had. We had like 17,000 of them.
Ed Delesky, MD:Yeah, the superlative cheesesteak egg roll. It's not something I expected walking in there, but it happened. So then I go up there and, like they have plates of you know, go up there and, like they have plates of you know, snacks to go up. And um, justin felt this too. You know they're little plates and you go up there and you take two, one for you, one for me, two of each some arancini, some of the vegetable samoa and the superlative cheesesteak egg roll. But going up the fifth time, I started to feel some judgment from the people who were serving this. Bartenders don't care what you're doing, I, I don't know. It also felt like food for everyone the fifth time.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:I started to feel some judgment from the people who were serving us, the bartenders, don't care what you're doing, I don't know.
Ed Delesky, MD:It also felt like food for everyone, and then when they brought out the second one, I felt way better about it, but it was like every two-minute clip that I was going up there. They were good Well, they were just so good, but I think you could have gone up a couple times. I did go up once. One out of every six was not the interval that I was maybe hoping for. Maybe like space it out a little bit. Every other I know you're in the boot it was five feet away.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:I'm injured, okay. Yeah, all right, I need you to go hunt and gather my cheesesteak egg rolls for me.
Ed Delesky, MD:Yeah, no, you're right, that's something I yeah, that's what it is. Congratulations to them. Beautiful event, so much love.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Can't wait to see what's next, and if you had like a really cool destination wedding, we wouldn't be mad. Just something to think about. Ollie agrees.
Ed Delesky, MD:Ollie agrees too. Just you know we we would. We are hunting for a destination wedding that isn't ours.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:I know. Well, now we have. Well, we know, sam and Meg are getting married here. Who else do we know that's getting married, that it isn't already planned? I think it's just them. Lots of weddings in the next year, lots of them, and not one of you could have done this. I think it's just them. Lots of weddings in the next year, lots of them, and not one of you could have done this on an island or something Rude.
Ed Delesky, MD:Ali also is.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Certainly wasn't going to be us. I can't be bothered to do that.
Ed Delesky, MD:No, it's far too much planning.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:I know. That's why I just want to be invited to a destination wedding. I don't want to plan one.
Ed Delesky, MD:Totally. There's another story that I want to tell.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:What story.
Ed Delesky, MD:Well, so we're cuddling up, we're getting ready to go to bed, we're resting, oh my God. Okay, go ahead.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Well, the night before we were like watching TV in bed or something, so naturally we both didn't sleep. Yep watching tv in bed or something so naturally we both didn't sleep.
Ed Delesky, MD:Yep, and then. Okay. So then we're getting ready for bed. Yep, we're getting ready, and, like you know, I roll over.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:I kiss nikki on the forehead because we're getting ready for bed and you're like, oh, I hope we have a peaceful sleep tonight. I'm like, yeah, me too. I thought that was the end of it.
Ed Delesky, MD:And then kiss you on the forehead and I say rest in peace tonight, sweetheart no, he whispers, he goes.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Rest in peace, sweetheart. I said, sir, do you know something that I don't?
Ed Delesky, MD:I had no idea what I was saying. Everywhere rip, rip and it, just like you know, you say something in a turn of phrase and I had no idea that that's what I was actually saying when I said, because I hope it's a peaceful sleep, rest in peace tonight we're here. Obviously no one passed away that night, but like that I that was a. That was a piss I like okay frank yeah, I, that was so funny.
Ed Delesky, MD:I don't know if anyone thinking, listening to this, like oh yeah, he, he, haha, he spoke it the wrong way, but he did and I did, all right, so um did we talk about your party?
Ed Delesky, MD:oh my gosh. No, because we that was so fun. I mean, like you did. So nikki threw me this tremendous graduation party at a brewery in South Jersey that we love and we'll give them credit. It was Tonewood. It was beautiful. They have a new location we're relatively new of the last couple of years compared to their older one in Oakland, this one in Barrington, and it was absolutely delicious. It was so thoughtful. You had like decorations, people wrote notes, they brought gifts. I felt so much love because residency is over.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Thank God.
Ed Delesky, MD:Which and by the time this comes out, it's the last day and it's over Board certified now. I guess I had to wait until the very last day to get the certification, but this party was so fun. I feel so grateful and so blessed that you put that together and thank you you're welcome yeah, I felt really special that day.
Ed Delesky, MD:I always do, um, because you make me feel so, but gathering all those people together made it extra. So to celebrate what was a long three years for the both of us, I would say it's been our entire existence with each other has residency been, so I think we're both excited to see what life looks like after this.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Yes, very excited.
Ed Delesky, MD:Yeah.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:You get a couple weeks of fun employment, which I'm really jealous about basically to be your chauffeur yeah, the timing is actually perfect because you like have morals and stuff, so you refuse to sign fmla paperwork for me for my toe, to try to get me off all summer so you can just hang out at the beach you were really vying for, like, something to happen for time off and like come on, just give me like a week or something like no, I'm driving you to work get to work, get in the car, come on.
Ed Delesky, MD:Yeah, get in the car. One of us has to make money this summer. Oh I, yeah. Did you have any other thoughts about the graduation party?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:No, that was good turnout.
Ed Delesky, MD:It was a great turnout, it was awesome. Yeah, thank you so much. All right, let's move on to Love Island.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Oh yeah.
Ed Delesky, MD:I have a question for you.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:What's your question?
Ed Delesky, MD:I have not proposed this before, but here's my question Does the nursing community accept Nick or Amaya as a nurse, more as a nurse?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:That's a hard question, because Nick is definitely like cool nurse that everyone loves and like you can do no wrong and like you're great, but you're also annoying, you know okay. And then and oh what, what do you think? And then it's like he also like may or may not be, like great or really bad at his job it could go either way, with that type, you know.
Ed Delesky, MD:Yep.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:I think often they're pretty good at their job. But you know, just a stereotype, that, and Amaya, that little lunatic who we love.
Ed Delesky, MD:It wasn't always that way.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:I feel like she's probably like low-key, good at her job and I feel like I could see her being a good advocate for her patients.
Ed Delesky, MD:Totally, you know yeah.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:When she the first. What is it called?
Ed Delesky, MD:Recoupling.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Yeah, the first recoupling when they had to vote someone off. Yeah, she's like we don't they devote someone off? Yeah, she's like we don't want to do that. You know she's very passionate.
Ed Delesky, MD:She does have a lot of passion. Yeah, yeah, totally.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Like I feel, like I might feel safe with her taking care of me.
Ed Delesky, MD:It sounds like your answer is a Maya. It might be. Thank you.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:That's all I needed to hear. Do you have any other feelings or thoughts about Love Island? I want to start watching Love Island UK. Chloe was talking about it yesterday and it seems good, so maybe we can dip into that. But this one I mean like why did Taylor pick that girl?
Ed Delesky, MD:girl. I don't know. Well, I feel like maybe there's obviously stuff like edited that we don't see shake things up um, maybe. Maybe he thought that alandria would be there regardless yeah maybe, um, maybe he saw the trajectory like he saw that things were headed in a faster, positive way.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:You know what I saw online tell me like on tiktok that people think so. In the last recoupling you you had to like write down who you wanted to be coupled up with and if you both wrote the same name, or like if you both wrote each other and then like you were coupled up and if the other person didn't, then you're single and vulnerable.
Ed Delesky, MD:Single and vulnerable to the island.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:So Ace wrote Shelly's name. It was like in one of the corners, and because he was between two girls too, yeah, I forgot who the other girl was. So Ace was between two girls, I guess. Like the two girls came up. So people think that because you had to like pull your whiteboard out of the thing, so people think that he had Shelly's name and then the other girl's name written in the two corners. And then when they saw like I guess, when he saw like Shelly wrote his name, then he like pulled it out and then like erased the other name.
Ed Delesky, MD:Like with his thumb, in a subtle way.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Like he was going to erase whoever, like if only one of them wrote his name, he was just going to erase the other girl. But then if they both did, then like he would pick Shelly. But he didn't know if Shelly was going to pick him because he's a short king and Shelly was coupled up with that basketball player who was like six, eight, which can be intimidating, I imagine, to a, to a short king, wow. So he's like, oh, like, if she doesn't come up and say that she wrote my name, I'll erase her and then I'll have the other girls. So that's the theory online.
Ed Delesky, MD:Wow, this, I mean, this guy's an operator. Yeah, really I. This is that's something. Huh, wow, I. Um, that's clever, is what that is especially like gaming. That system like write down someone's name, write it teeny tiny in the corner. You take it out and you're like, oops, yeah, wipe my thumb over the corner, got rid of something. But what if you like, accidentally got rid of the wrong person's name?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Well then, you're stuck with the wrong girl.
Ed Delesky, MD:That would have been dramatic. And then that's what you get for trying to game the system. Yeah, yeah, it's so. Yeah, it's um. So it's coming on again. It was on last night by the time this episode comes out and we probably won't have made it the whole time, but you know, that's good it's. I'm excited to see where it goes. Um, obviously the producers have an agenda, because they kept some people around oh my god, I know that nick and alandria thing which they were good sports. They were like oh, let's explore this.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:And they like but then they had to make it okay. So they already told us everyone was coming back to the villa so they could have, just like they get in the car and then it's like, oh surprise, we're back. But then they made it this whole like you guys have to be a couple and like blah, blah, like you already told us they were all coming back. It did they? Yeah, in the beginning. Remember.
Ed Delesky, MD:Well, they said like everyone's coming back. I mean, didn't they send someone home in the beginning of Casa?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Did they?
Ed Delesky, MD:I don't know, they weren't memorable enough. We had a theory that they were going to bring like literally everyone back.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Oh yeah, because they were still in Fiji.
Ed Delesky, MD:Like Jeremiah Hannah, all of them King Jalen, King Jalen, but no, no, they uh, that hasn't happened yet. Um, we'll see what happens. Did they leave us in a cliffhanger?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:No, everyone was just coupled up.
Ed Delesky, MD:Oh, we're just entering a new week. How many more weeks of this do we have?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:I don't know, I feel like Casa Amor is like a little over halfway.
Ed Delesky, MD:No. Casa Amor is like halfway through the season. Well, I don't know what we would do if, well, there's the Waterfront is something that I'm interested in watching.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Yeah, there's also Wait, I forget what it's called, but there's another show that I want to watch I feel like it's on Prime and then I'm also kind of interested in watching the Poop Cruise documentary.
Ed Delesky, MD:What is this?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:It's about that cruise a couple years ago that like I don't know what went wrong, but something went wrong and then there was just like poop everywhere wow, some might say like I think it was for like a week that there was poop everywhere yeah, because like nothing on the ship was working wow, that would be a bummer on a cruise.
Ed Delesky, MD:There's like no escape and there's just feces everywhere. I don't know, I don't think I've nevermer on a cruise. There's like no escape and there's just feces everywhere.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:I don't know. I don't think I've never been on a cruise, but I don't think I'm a cruise girly.
Ed Delesky, MD:I feel like I would feel like claustrophobic well, who's gonna listen to this and say like after hearing our interpretation of a poop cruise, and say like, yeah, with a resounding yes, I am a cruise girly I mean, there are people who are cruise people. Right, but I mean.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:We'll have to watch it and then report back. Sure Because that was, you know, basic level. Something went wrong and there was poop everywhere, Like we'll report back.
Ed Delesky, MD:Right, like maybe there was like a titanic level of poop.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Yeah.
Ed Delesky, MD:That made it the wrong way, and then like there was that, yeah. What I do have to make sure that we get to, though, is because I said we were over there.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:What's that? You have a whole list.
Ed Delesky, MD:It's a it's a long list. This week, um, we went to dinner and we have a new restaurant, that we restaurant that we need to review. What was the name of the restaurant? Picnic, yeah, so cute it's the biggest venue that I've seen in philadelphia for a restaurant yeah, it's pretty big.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:I mean like sarai is pretty big.
Ed Delesky, MD:I feel like yep, and it's the same group of people who run this restaurant. It was absolutely delicious. I had went for a work dinner a few weeks ago, got to pick on certain things, but I felt the need to take you a part of a way of saying thank you for the graduation party to be continued this week on a restaurant that we'll review next week Still remains a mystery to you, but I wanted to take us through some of these dishes because they were amazing. I want to get your thoughts on each of them, okay, um, I knew that the oysters the birthday girl oysters they were were going to be delicious. I love oysters, but you walked in with some apprehension.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Take us through what you felt well, I'm not a huge oyster girly, or so I thought, because so she thought it's like higher, it's like a loogie in your mouth but, but these ones were good and it turns out I like a lot of hot sauce on them, yeah, and it was delicious salty hot. I only like four of them because then they started to kind of like skeeve me out a little with the loogie, like nature sure, and that's just like any oyster.
Ed Delesky, MD:That isn't an oyster rockefeller, yeah, but uh, a buck 50 during happy hour and all day we're gonna have to go there on a sunday.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:On sunday because, like they were good, the cocktail was good, uh, whatever, what else did we get?
Ed Delesky, MD:that was good on the menu well, here let me say the sausage raclette. How'd you feel about that?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:I would rate that like probably an eight out of 10.
Ed Delesky, MD:Yeah, that was excellent, and there was some cheese on the inside.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Yeah, it was like sausage cheese bread.
Ed Delesky, MD:Yeah, and then like a little lemon to put in there. I'll say it again, I said it then. It really opens it up and just like add so many dimensions of flavor to add a little bit of lemon in there. That was delicious so I loved that. That was a small plate Surprise of the night for me. We kind of knew you'd like this. Maybe you can take us through a little detail. Is the watermelon salad?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Oh, that was so good. I think we should make that at the beach when we're there for Fourth of July, because you have the basil and the mint. That was a 10 out of 10. For me it was watermelon, like very ripe watermelon, very ripe Goat cheese. I've seen this sort of thing made with feta before Never goat cheese, but I love goat cheese. Like you could put goat cheese on my shoe and I'll eat it.
Ed Delesky, MD:So the watermelon goat cheese, mint and basil like chopped up and then maybe some olive oil.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Yeah, I mean, it was maybe a little like sprinkle of salt. It was so delicious.
Ed Delesky, MD:You picked it and I was like, really, this is what we're going to do here, so good. I ate my words. That was delicious. I loved it. Something else that came in the early parts was one of the most delicious chicken sandwich bites.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Oh yeah, I want to go back there for that sandwich, for the whole sandwich.
Ed Delesky, MD:So there was a little bite version during happy hour. You know, I didn't realize that, like when you buy the one of them.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:I know I thought it was two, because the couple next to us, like it, came on one plate and there were two. So we were like, oh great, it comes with two sliders right?
Ed Delesky, MD:no, we were wrong. So yeah, that's okay, we'll have to go back. We cut it in half and enjoyed pieces, each delicious. I mean it was like so many times better than like a chick-fil-a sandwich, but it reminded me of that it was so tender fell apart in your mouth. It was delicious. Um the french fries. Oh, we gotta get french fries for the table we love fries for the table.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:We'll be at like the nicest restaurant and we're like can we have some fries?
Ed Delesky, MD:please, please, sir. We need them for the table. Does the kitchen have the fries? Yeah, so that was amazing. Um, and then the last two items are the ones that are most unique and shocking. Uh, were the rotisserie chicken. I had the rotisserie chicken at this work work dinner and it was the reason I brought you back here.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Yeah, well this restaurant is. I guess they're kind of like being known for the rotisserie chicken, which I don't remember the last time I ordered like a piece of chicken breast while we were out Probably never. Yep, it's like we have that at home. It was the best chicken I've ever had. This is the superlative chicken I would go back there for that chicken sandwich and this rotisserie chicken.
Ed Delesky, MD:And I do not kid you guys that this was and Eddie is vehemently against rotisserie chicken.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:He just is like anti. He's in this weird phase where he's anti rotisserie chicken. I am and I'll be like, oh, like, let's get a rotisserie chicken, it's like a treat, and he just like doesn't like it. He loves this it was incredible. It's so good yeah and then you can get. There's like a bunch of different like sauces you can pick for it that really you don't even need, but no we're good.
Ed Delesky, MD:That was amazing, and I mean by this point we were very full as well. Yeah, it was lots of food that came out, but this rotisserie chicken they were so nice I like gave them a five on resi or whatever, because like they were nice and I liked their food and they emailed me and they were like thank you, and I know this is like totally a marketing ploy like they do this on purpose but I loved that.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Maybe they can give us like a coupon maybe a coupon.
Ed Delesky, MD:I told them we were gonna do this. Whether they see this or not, I'm not sure this like rave review of their restaurant. Um, but that was amazing. And then we ended the meal with oh, a simple vanilla ice cream, but with olive oil yeah, it's like olive oil.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Was it like honeycomb flaky sea salt or something? I also okay, I keep saying I'll go back just for that. So basically I'll go back to get everything that we got.
Ed Delesky, MD:That was so good yeah, it's so unique too. Have never it was like refreshing and sweet it was awesome. I loved it. It was just great. It was a terrific experience. I thought it was so amazing all around one of my new favorite restaurants. The place is huge, so they have a ton of availability and I mean, like I like went on the day of and I was like, oh, maybe I can try to get us a spot and like I had no issue whatsoever would go back totally would go back.
Ed Delesky, MD:We'll go back on a sunday to get more oysters like we had oysters at a place that's like an oyster place in center city and like it wasn't anything like what you got up there. It was just great from head to toe. I do you have any other lasting feelings you want to like say about this place?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:no, it was delicious, I loved.
Ed Delesky, MD:Everything would go back yeah, so picnic, I think. What is this? Is that? What's the name of it? Let's give them credit. What's the name of the?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:yeah, they're the same people that have soraya. We say soraya because we like how that sounds better. I think we've talked about like more than once.
Ed Delesky, MD:Yeah Well, their space is originally built in 1899 as the boiler house for the Weissbrod and Hess Brewery. It's right across from Philadelphia Brewing. This place once powered one of Philadelphia's great beer making operations. Over a century later, the structure endures, with its arched windows, original brickwork and 35 35 foot ceilings intact. I'm still trying to figure out who the it's not exactly on their website. Obviously a rewards program.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:It might as well defined hospitality yeah they have calaya sirea, oh, el teco too, oh and condessa, yeah, yeah r&d cocktail bar, which we've never been. Oh, I want to try pizzeria badia. People say really good things about that really.
Ed Delesky, MD:I'm adding it to the list. That's part of them too. It's the grocery list. See, oh, there we go. That's the right list. All right, and that's what we got for you here today. It was a very long list, very long banter section hopefully you stuck around.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:What's that? Is this all going to be for one episode? Yeah, no okay.
Ed Delesky, MD:Well, what are we going to talk about today, nick?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:today we're talking about heat-related illness. Why?
Ed Delesky, MD:Because it's hot out. Yeah, I mean like last a couple weeks ago, it was like the hottest day of the year and it's stayed that way.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Yeah, my broken toe came in clutch last week because I couldn't walk to work and you had to drive me.
Ed Delesky, MD:I did. That was a piece Darn.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Can't walk in 100-degree. Had to drive me I did. That was a piece. You can't walk in 100 degree weather.
Ed Delesky, MD:Yep, you definitely saved yourself there. And then we came home because the air conditioner was broken. Really grateful to that guy who came in and fixed it. But we came back and I was here all day, but then Ollie was panting it was far too hot in there.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:I almost had to ship him out to his grandparents.
Ed Delesky, MD:Yeah, so you know we're mostly going to focus on humans here, but all of this and some experiences we've had in the past with loved ones make us think we need to talk about heat-related illness, because it affects a lot of people. It's summertime, and why not spend a little bit of time keeping some people safe, so let's dive in a little bit further. Can you tell us what heat related illness is?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Yes, I can. It's when our body overheats and can't cool itself properly.
Ed Delesky, MD:Are there like things that make people more susceptible to that?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:yes, so young children and older adults, um anyone with any sort of chronic illness, like heart, kidney disease, diabetes, um. If people are on certain medications like beta blockers or diuretics, um. And then people who just are simply not acclimated to the heat yes, one who is not meant to live in the heat. That not meant to live in an uncomfortable life that was right from the from white lotus love conditioned air you do.
Ed Delesky, MD:A quick aside. Here was our um a trip to jamaica in january. And it was very hot in jamaica in january and the conditioned air was not prepared in the room when we got there and it was like the final test before we decided to get engaged and it was like do you like you're?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:you got upset, rightfully so yeah, I got upset because the thermostat thing was in like 17 different languages. So I'm sure, like me messing with it didn't help because I didn't know what I was pressing, sure. So we told them that it wasn't working. When we got there and they're like, yeah, we'll send someone up and we're like, cool, we go about our day, come back, it's still not working. No one came up and then it's the next day we're sleeping in this hot, humid room and it's like 100 degrees out and 100 humidity. So, yeah, I was annoyed and I went down to the front to ask them to change our room because we're not paying thousands of dollars in this brand new resort for the air conditioning not to work. But Eddie was really trying to dodge that because he had the guy we were getting engaged that night. I didn't know that.
Ed Delesky, MD:Nope.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:And he was like talking to the guy to like decorate the room and stuff, and he's like, no, we really can't leave this room. You don't understand. Please don't do this. We have to stay here.
Ed Delesky, MD:I'm going to have to go back on WhatsApp and find this concierge man to like rearrange everything. Please don't do this.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Anyway, that's just a little. Something about me is that I love conditioned air.
Ed Delesky, MD:And if you do love conditioned air and you aren't acclimated to the heat, that turns out to be a huge risk factor For older adults. It seems like they have a tough time regulating their temperature. They're often on these medications more, and they also are more socially isolated, it turns out, and so they may be in an environment that's hot and not have anyone around to check in on them. So, as you know, if you're listening to this and you think that, like you're of a younger population or you're not in this situation, think of the loved ones or the neighbors in your life who are a little older than you and check in on them in these hot times just to make sure that they're okay and that they have conditioned air, so that you might be able to.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Why do they call it air conditioning?
Ed Delesky, MD:I don't know, maybe we can get an HVAC guy on here.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:What's conditioned?
Ed Delesky, MD:Explain it.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:About it.
Ed Delesky, MD:So I'm not sure, but what I do know is that there are six types of heat illness, and I see an opportunity for us to go back and forth, do you, and just kind of highlight and define what each of these are. So why don't you lead us off?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:What do we have here first? Oh, we have a good old heat rash up first, and that's when our sweat glands are blocked. So everything's staying under your skin and it's red and itchy. Not comfortable, not a comfortable condition.
Ed Delesky, MD:I've never personally had one, but me neither. Yeah, what can you do to?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:well, there's a quick fix to keeping the skin cool and dry, which might be hard if it's 100 degrees outside reasonable but great solution conditioned air.
Ed Delesky, MD:So the second one is heat cramps. Turns out that you can get actual painful muscle spasms that are mainly localized in the leg and abdomen and most often happen after exertion or sweat loss, and the quick fix here is rest fluids with salt. So some sports drinks and maybe even some gentle stretching will be able to help. But really an ounce of prevention is worth the pound of cure here. And if you just kind of avoid some of these activities like going outside too much and working in the heat of the day, that's something to to think about. What's next on our list here, nick?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:next we have some edema which is swelling, typically in the hands or the feet. Um, especially if you're new to a hotter climate, like us in Jamaica like us in Jamaica. Um, so to fix this, if you're like feet or legs are swollen, you can lay down with your feet up and avoid diuretics.
Ed Delesky, MD:Yeah, I think the thing there is that, like when a lot of times a gut reaction is when people see swelling, they think extra fluid and move it off. But this is all usually from a what's called a vasodilation, where the blood vessels get bigger and wider and then more fluid is able to. The same amount of fluid that you had is able to go more places and then creates the swelling. But diuretics might actually lead to dehydration in this specific situation, which kind of informs the like. Maybe you don't do that if you have heat edema. I'll take the next one, which is heat syncope or otherwise stated heat fainting, heat passing out this is dizziness or fainting from standing in the heat. I'm thinking of all of the people when I grew up going to Great Adventure in Six Flags, central New Jersey, the only claim to fame.
Ed Delesky, MD:And the outlets Rest in peace. King Dakai was the world's tallest, fastest roller coaster until it wasn't such is life. They took it down, but those lines were always so long and I could always see, every once in a while, someone suffering from heat syncope just falling down because it was so hot and they fainted Really. Yeah, it happens, it does. You're standing out there in the summertime Jackson, New Jersey, it's July waiting to go on. Kingda Ka Bang 95 degrees, 80% humidity Feels like 105. You pass out. It happens.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:That's why you should just go to the beach instead of to Jackson, New Jersey Easy.
Ed Delesky, MD:So the quick fix isn't rocket science, it's lie down in the shade and hydrate, and that's that. There are two really important ones to talk about in the episode here, and so we're going to take, we're going to break out here and talk about the last two, which are very important. Can you take the first one?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Yes.
Ed Delesky, MD:Number five.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Number five is heat exhaustion, so symptoms of this are heavy sweat.
Ed Delesky, MD:Pay attention here folks.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:What.
Ed Delesky, MD:No, like the symptoms are the things that divide these two.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:So I'm saying pay attention folks. Symptoms are heavy sweating, weakness, headache, nausea or fainting. Your body temperature will probably be normal or a little bit elevated, and then the fix, which is the same as all of them pretty much, is to cool down, maybe get in the shade, drink some fluids and rest. And then the key point here is that heat exhaustion, if it's not managed, can move into a heat stroke.
Ed Delesky, MD:Right, which you'll tell us about. So this is the medical emergency. Heat stroke is very different and it's something that needs immediate attention and, like we said, the symptoms are the thing to think about. One key symptom confusion, confusion is a key thing to look out for. If you're thinking about someone suffering from heat-related illness and you could be walking down the street look like we live in philly, we walk a lot of places some of us not currently, but like we walk a lot of places. You're looking outside, it's hot. If you see someone who's confused, it's on the list of things that they could be going through.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Well, well, here there's a laundry list of things that could be going on, sure but when it's hot, it adds to the list and it's an additional thing to think about.
Ed Delesky, MD:On the more severe end, someone could be having seizures, can lose consciousness, and a key thing is that they're so dramatic from the heat, I know, but their core body temperature can go above 104 degrees.
Ed Delesky, MD:For our overseas listeners, 40 degrees Celsius, very hot, and this is the body's complete failure at temperature regulation. And so, to say it out loud here, the central nervous system involvement, the confusion, the seizures, loss of consciousness, these are the key features, the management here. If you're a bystander and you're looking by and you're seeing things happen, it's different. It's not just go cool down eventually. Sure, the answer is call 911. Yes, move that person to the shade. Honestly, remove clothes. I you know, take that. Read the situation as it is. Don't remove clothes. I you know, take that. Read the situation as it is. Don't walk up to someone, take their clothes off and say hey, ed and nicole from your checkup podcast told me to take off your clothes because you're hot. There's a lot of definitions of the word hot, both like literal and metaphorical, metaphorical. Metaphorical is not a word.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:What are you saying?
Ed Delesky, MD:If someone were paying attention on my diatribe, you would know. Basically, don't take off someone's clothes without their consent.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Oh yeah, Certainly don't want to do that. We did not tell you to do that.
Ed Delesky, MD:We did not tell you to do that, but cold water, ice packs while waiting for the emergency services. Because if I didn't say it before I did, but I'll say it again A heat stroke is a medical emergency which needs to go. I'm thinking of this. Looks like this. Someone's working out in the yard. They're working at noon, they're working on building stairs, they're working on building a swing set, and they're a grizzled man and they're like I can work in anything.
Ed Delesky, MD:I'm going to be out here, and then, all of a sudden, things start to get a little fuzzy. Someone's watching them and they're not moving the right way, or eventually they come inside and they're not themselves. This is something to think about. And then don't pass, go, don't collect $200, thanks, monopoly, call 911. That's what I'm thinking about here. Have you seen anyone with heat stroke? Mm-mm, well, I haven't All right. And can we? I know we've talked about them before, but before we wrap up let's just say them out loud Can you give us the prevention tips to stay cool and stay safe in this squelching summer heat?
Ed Delesky, MD:squelching what a word yeah, thank you, I'm a wordsmith oh god, yeah, wait, what did you say yesterday?
Nicole Aruffo, RN:justin and chloe's?
Ed Delesky, MD:I was just like. I'm a wordsmith. This is what I do, no, but you said something.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:No, I forget, I don't know whatever. Prevention tips, again, not rocket science. We're staying cool. You are taking breaks in the shade or some conditioned air. You're wearing loose, breathable clothing. We're hydrating before we feel thirsty.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:Oh, and we're not hydrating with caffeine or alcohol, because that will not hydrate you there we go um, avoid outdoor exertion between or during the peak heat from 11 to 4, which is also, you know, the peak tanning hours are also in there. So be mindful of that, acclimating gradually to the hot weather, and check on our vulnerable loved ones. It's too hot for little boys out there.
Ed Delesky, MD:It is too hot for little boys, and I just want to highlight some common missteps. Heat stroke does not always look like profuse sweating. It can very much not. Someone having a heat stroke can very much not be sweating, so don't be fooled by that. A common misstep is thinking only athletes or outdoor workers are at risk. But if someone's inside we talked about this vulnerable elderly person who's on a lot of medications, who's alone that person is also at risk and they're at risk for this to happen inside, relying on thirst to tell you when to hydrate, like you said earlier.
Ed Delesky, MD:A common misstep being that you don't want to hydrate too late. You want to be proactively hydrating and, in children, assuming that they'll speak up if they feel hot. Children don't always communicate in the most linear way that makes sense to adults, neither will your puppies. Ollie talks to us, he does, and he tells us he's panting. He tells us he's hot, but children may not jump to the fact and say I'm hot, and if they do, it might be a little too far along, and so on today's episode, our quick recap is we just want you to know the symptoms and the different types of heat-related illness, all six of them. Find your shade and do all this stuff early, especially in these high risk populations, and know when to get help, which is confusion or other central nervous system things. So thank you for coming back to another episode of your checkup. Hopefully you were able to learn something for yourself, a loved one or a hot neighbor.
Ed Delesky, MD:Check us out on our website, check out our Instagram, find us on thread since we're most active and most sincerely follow the show so that you get updates about when our new episodes come out, and communicate with us If you have ideas, you have questions you want us to answer. We would love to hear from you. We're trying to build a little community here. Most importantly, stay healthy, my friends. Until next time. I'm Ed Dolesky.
Nicole Aruffo, RN:I'm Nicole Rufo.
Ed Delesky, MD:Thank you and goodbye Bye. It doesn't cover all details about conditions, treatments or medications for a specific person. This is not medical advice or an attempt to substitute medical advice. You should contact a healthcare provider for personalized guidance based on your unique circumstances. We explicitly disclaim any liability relating to the information given or its use. This content doesn't endorse any treatments or medications for a specific patient. Always talk to your healthcare provider for complete information tailored to you. In short, I'm not your doctor, I am not your nurse, and make sure you go get your own checkup with your own personal doctor.
