Hot weather can be a challenge for people with diabetes (diabetes) because the environment with high temperatures can affect blood sugar levels. Therefore, you need to pay attention to the signs when the body is unable to handle the heat of the weather.
Effects of Hot Weather on Diabetics
Diabetics are prone to complications, one of which can occur is damage to blood vessels and nerves.
This damage can affect glands in the body, including the sweat glands. As a result, the body cannot sweat and control body temperature properly. This condition will make the body easily tired when the weather is very hot (heat exhaustion)
Experienced people heat exhaustion may experience nausea, dizziness, headaches, muscle aches, and a significant drop in blood pressure.
In addition, hot weather can also affect blood sugar levels; can be hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. When the weather is hot, the body becomes more susceptible to dehydration because you can sweat a lot.
A dehydrated body condition will increase the concentration of sugar in the blood, resulting in hyperglycemia or high blood sugar levels. As a result, you will urinate more often, a condition that makes the body lack fluids and makes blood sugar increase.
In addition, hot weather can increase the risk of hypoglycemia for diabetics who are taking drugs to lower blood pressure.
Your body’s metabolism will increase in hot and humid weather, so your body will produce more insulin. When the amount of insulin is high, more sugar will be brought to the cells so that the sugar level in the blood will decrease.
Also Read: Can Diabetics Eat Oat Biscuits?
Tips for Dealing with Hot Weather for Diabetics
Don’t let diabetes stop you from doing outdoor activities. You can still enjoy outdoor activities in any weather.
Here are some ways that people with diabetes can still enjoy outdoor activities in hot weather:
1. Drink Lots of Water
Hot weather will make you sweat, even if you don’t do any activity. This is a natural mechanism to cool the body.
To replace body fluids that come out through sweat, you need to consume lots of water. You can drink water or other drinks that don’t contain sugar to keep your body hydrated.
While outside on hot days, be sure to carry a bottle of water with you and drink regularly.
2. Adjusting the amount of insulin
When outdoors with hot temperatures, you need to adjust the amount of insulin injected.
You can consult with your doctor about the amount of insulin that needs to be lowered or the amount of carbohydrates that need to be consumed. This step can help you avoid hypoglycemia or blood sugar that is too low.
Also Read: Recognizing Heat Waves and Their Dangers to Health
3. Check Blood Sugar Periodically
When you are in hot weather, you need to take blood sugar measurements more frequently than usual days.
This step is necessary because high temperatures can cause blood sugar to fluctuate more. In this way, you can take action to keep your blood sugar stable.
You also still need to measure blood sugar within a few hours after doing outdoor activities. This action is necessary because in general the effects of outdoor activities will last for some time.
4. Wear Sunscreen
The skin can burn if exposed to the sun for a long time. This condition will cause stress on the body which eventually causes an increase in blood sugar.
Therefore, you need to wear sunscreen and sunglasses to avoid sunburn.
Even though diabetics are more sensitive to hot weather, you can still do outdoor activities with a few adjustments.
- Anonymous. 2020. How to Manage Your Diabetes in Extreme Summer Heat. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-to-manage-your-diabetes-in-extreme-summer-heat/. (Accessed January 17, 2023).
- Anonymous. 2022. Hot Weather and Diabetes – Staying Safe in the Heat. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-and-hot-weather.html. (Accessed January 17, 2023).
- Anonymous. 2022. Managing Diabetes in the Heat. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/manage-diabetes-heat.html. (Accessed January 17, 2023).
- Larson, Jennifer. 2021. How Do Heat and Humidity Affect Diabetes? https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes/diabetes-and-heat. (Accessed January 17, 2023).
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