I recently talked to my friend who is a Physician and somehow we got into the topic of heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. I asked him in his medical opinion what is more important- having access to heat in the winter or having access to air conditioning in the summer? He first stated that it truly depends on how cold it is in the winter and how hot and humid it is in the summer. Secondly, it is also dependent on the person’s age, health status, and tolerance for temperatures. He gave me some valuable information. To start, if someone is without heat in a frigid winter, it is possible that they can suffer from frostbite, hypothermia, trench foot, and chilbains. Some of these conditions can lead to death if they are not treated, especially hypothermia. Heat related illnesses such as heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat syncope, and heat rash can also potentially cause severe illness and even death if they are not treated. He said that if he absolutely had to pick if air conditioning or heat was more important he would choose air conditioning only because it is a little harder to cool the body in some cases than it is to warm the body. However, he stressed the importance of both heat and air conditioning especially for vulnerable populations. Babies and senior citizens should never be without heat and air conditioning in his medical opinion. It is very sad that there are people in our country that die from cold and heat related illnesses because of lack of access to heat and air conditioning.
Related Stories
26/02/2024