By Scott Harvey
– The latest heat wave to hit Northeast Texas has local physicians warning patients of the danger.
Dr. Richard Selvaggi is with the Live Oak Professional Center in Commerce. He says heat exhaustion is probably the biggest fear this time of year, as your body's mechanism for staying cool doesn't work as well.
"People start having symptoms and get fatigued; they become weak, dizzy. More severe symptoms they'll have are nausea; they'll ace all over and have headaches, start sweating profusely, and actually will sometimes black out."
If you experience any of these symptoms, you may need to contact your doctor.
Selvaggi says that with dehydration being the number one cause of heat exhaustion, simply keeping hydrated is your best bet.
"Some individuals could be out there all day long and will need a fluid replacement with electrolytes in it. Most of the time I don't recommend carbonated beverages. Those with a lot of sugar are not very helpful."
As usual, those who are most at-risk are the young, elderly and those with chronic illnesses.
Temperatures are expected to get into the triple digits Thursday, with heat indices around 105-110. Wednesday brought record temperatures to some parts of Texas, including Waco and Austin, with highs of 106 and 105, respectively.