Most MS patients have HEAT INTOLERANCE, and respectfully submit that IT'S EFFING HOT ENOUGH! Man-made climate change (global warming) just makes this worse.

About Heat Intolerance and Multiple Sclerosis

Heat intolerance (or anhidrosis) is a classic symptom of MS, shared to some degree (no pun intended) by about 80% of all MS patients.

Typically, when an MS patient experiences a rise in core body temperature of as little as one-quarter to one-half of a degree, whether internally or externally, there is a temporary increase in MS symptoms.

What causes heat Intolerance in MS?

MS involves the destruction of myelin, the protective sheath surrounding and protecting the nerve fibers, causing the formation of plaques on the nerves, which in turn slow the nerve impulses.

A build-up of heat slows down nerve transmission further, causing symptoms to generally worsen.


A subtle rise in body temperature can be caused by exertion (such as running or other physical exercise), or running a fever, or immersion in hot water such as warm/hot baths, showers, or hot tubs.


Again, these temporary changes can result from the slightest rise in core body temperature, as little as one-quarter to one-half of a degree, because an elevated temperature further impairs the ability of a demyelinated nerve to conduct electrical impulses.

What are the symptoms of heat intolerance?

Some people notice that their vision becomes blurred when they get overheated; other symptoms that may worsen include difficulty walking, speaking, or concentrating.

Many report an increase in fatigue or tremor.

Overheating is such a predictable issue for MS patients that, for many years, the ‘Hot Bath’ test was used to diagnose MS; a person suspected of having MS was immersed in a hot tub of water, and the inevitable appearance of (or worsening of) neurological symptoms (such as profound weakness) was taken as evidence that the person had MS.

The "hot bath test" was obviously easier on the patient than the usual spinal tap, and cheaper than the diagnostic MRI, but it's rarely employed these days. And even when it was, it sometimes caused complications. All of which means that, for many MS patients, getting overheated can lead to staggering, if you can walk at all.

In really bad cases, attempts to explain one's seemingly "tipsy" behavior are made difficult-to- impossible because speech can become slurred also, as well as the ability to write legibly, none of which helps establish the fact of sobriety...
Some of us who are seriously affected by the heat carry MS ID cards, which list the possible effects and symptoms of MS, in case of incapacitation (heat-induced or otherwise) in public.

To avoid these situations, most of us tend to stay in the air conditioning in warm months where that option exists, so obviously indoor hobbies become more important. Some also wear special cooling vests. I keep a variety of ice packs around.


Get Overheated and get Arrested for Public Intoxication!

Seriously, an MS patient I know well has had the unpleasant experience of having had the police called on her several times when she became overheated in public and onlookers assumed she was intoxicated. This sort of thing can happen to diabetics, but not many people realize that the same thing can happen to MS patients. It must have been awful to find oneself not only sick & incapacitated by the Texas heat, utterly unable to demonstrate sobriety despite being completely sober, but having to also deal with the disapproving faces of strangers presuming drunkenness. This only adds insult to injury.

Heat is just not a very good friend to most MS patients. And Global Warming just makes it worse, especially when Summer begins to roll around earlier and hotter each decade than the last.

No kidding, this has gotta stop, not just for the sake of people with heat intolerance, but for all of us.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

We're Effing Burning UP Here!

Well, it's official; this is the hottest summer on record; in Austin, Texas anyway, and elsewhere. Since 1850 when they started keeping records, it's never been this hot. At this moment it's 10:04pm and 96 degrees F; that used to be the average daytime high for this date, but now our average daytime high is 101F and climbing. 
This week is gonna SUCK, just like last week and next week...
We have a couple of months more of summer-type temps ahead, with the hottest part of the summer still ahead; August and early September are the hottest here. Austin's all-time record high was 112 degrees on Labor Day, 2000. I remember it well- I was driving my un-air-conditioned pickup truck, which my son was using to move into a new apartment that day; hey, at least it wasn't raining! And I didn't have MS yet, so it wasn't any worse for me than for anyone else; I just sat in the truck (parked in the shade whenever possible), drinking ice water and dreaming of an Ice Age.

Ah, but just to mix it up a little, last Saturday we had a brief, unexpected cold snap; the high for the day was a frosty 99 degrees!  Brrrr! I didn't get a chance to wrap the pipes or bring in the plants, but we squeaked by without much damage. Anyway, that made two days in July total when it wasn't at least 100.

Seriously, this season of extremes is only getting worse, not just here in Texas but many places. Heat indices of 115 used to be uncommon, but seriously, a 115 heat index in Minneapolis? Crazy.

(Try not to let your sense of humor melt...)

Across the country, emergency room visits were way up, according to public health officials, mainly because of people suffering from heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The weather is suspected of contributing to a number of deaths nationwide. At least six more fatalities were reported just yesterday. 
Warnings about excessive heat stretched from Kansas to Maine and the Carolinas. In Connecticut, a dozen Girl Scouts were treated for heat-related problems at a scout camp. Philadelphia's public schools canceled summer classes, while Allentown to the north waived fees at its public pools. 

Special dangers can come at night, experts warn, if the temperatures don't cool enough to provide relief. It never got below 107.1°F overnight on June 27th, when Oman recorded the world’s highest ever minimum temperature. 


While the current heat wave has recorded 12 all-time daily highs so far this month, it also has registered 98 all-time overnight highs, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported at a briefing Thursday.

So is the planet trying to tell us something?

No! Rush Limbaugh insists that it's NOT HOT!  
Heat? What heat?
He swears this happens every summer. So I guess it must not be hot after all, because we ALL KNOW how purely unbiased and divinely infallible he is!
Rush informed his listeners that the heat index in particular is a totally made-up, non-valid, non-scientific measurement invented solely to promote the lie of man-made global warming- just another "librul guvment conspiracy". (As was the thermometer I suppose.) Right. (Wonder how many Dittoheads are buying THIS one?)

On the other hand, HELL YES! says satirical tabloid "The Onion",  in a recent headline,

"Planet Earth Doesn't Know How To Make It Any Clearer It Wants Everyone To Leave."

"According to a statement released to the press Tuesday, the planet Earth has 'just about run out of ways' to let its roughly 6.9 billion human inhabitants know it wants them all to leave."

Hey, if I could, I would. Mars sounds refreshing right about now, with equatorial highs up to Zero F, and nighttime lows about minus 200F.

Honestly I'd gladly and gratefully relocate to Canada or at least Vermont (if I could think only of the right Lotto numbers), but alas, I'm stuck here in Texas, burning up. 
How actual HELL would be any different I suppose is only a matter of degree.....
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