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Overheating On Your Medication

As temperatures climb, so does the risk of heat stroke and other heat-related illnesses. And that risk can increase if you are on certain everyday medications.

What happens is these medications interfere with how our bodies handle heat -- they prevent us from cooling down.

And a new study in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology says the problem is more common than we thought -- and more medicines can cause a problem than we thought.

Here's how these medicines can cause us to get sick when temps rise:

They cause us to sweat less. They make us less thirsty. And they narrow blood vessels of the skin so we hold in heat. And what's scary is we don't realize this is going on until we keel over or, in the extreme, put our bodies under so much stress we have something like a heart attack.

meds, medicine, Prescription bottles
(credit: CBS)

So what drugs are we talking about?

There are many -- the common ones include:

- Blood pressure medications - almost all of them such as beta blockers, diuretics, ace inhibitors, and a type called ARBs

- Allergy medications - antihistamines including OTC products

- Decongestants - can also be a problem

- Antidepressants - such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, and and older types called tricyclics

- Some not as common ones include drugs for more psychiatric disorders, overactive bladder, Parkinsons, tranquilzers and medications to relieve nerve pain

The very young and very old are the most at risk -- but heat issues combined with medications can happen to anyone. And it's not just one hot day of 85 or higher -- early summer is most common time for trouble since our bodies haven't acclimated to heat. So take care. Slow down. Drink plenty of fluids. Avoid alcohol. And talk to your doctor to see if your medication could spell summertime problems.

Dr. Dave Hnida is CBS4's Medical Editor. He blogs about the latest studies and trends in the health world. Read his latest blog entries, check out his bio or follow him on Twitter @drdavehnida.

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