29 Aug 2018
Summer is not only the holiday season, but also the season of hot weather and heat waves. Whatever your age, if you are on treatment, precautions should be taken.
The most fragile people are infants and the elderly. Exposed to hot weather, the body is attacked, it is at risk of heat stroke, dehydration, and aggravation of an existing disease.
Interaction between drugs and heat on the body
With heat and the sun, some medications can produce undesirable effects:
Diuretics prescribed in case of arterial hypertension can lead to dehydration during heat waves.
The chemical composition of antibiotics makes the skin more vulnerable to sunburn.
Anti-inflammatories increase sensitivity to the sun.
Other hormone-based drugs can cause skin-pigmentation when exposed to the sun.
To prevent this, do not expose yourself to the sun, stay in the shade and cool and drink plenty of water.
And most importantly, do not hesitate to notify your doctor for any unusual reaction observed or experienced.
Preservation of medicines
The storage temperatures are indicated on the packaging of the medicines, make sure to respect them scrupulously.
Medications without storage indications are stored at room temperature. Clinical tests have shown that these drugs are stable for months even at a temperature of 40 degrees.
Drugs with a storage indication between 25 ° C and 30 ° C can be stored at room temperature. However, avoid exposing them directly to the sun even though the studies have shown their stability for a few days during heat waves.
Medicines with a storage indication between +2 and +8 ° C must be stored in a refrigerator. They should not be taken out of the refrigerator and returned several times because the repetitive "hot-cold" cycle can degrade them.
Capsule, ointment and suppository medications do not withstand high temperatures and quickly deteriorate. Their appearance and color are good indicators of their stability and quality. Do not use them if you notice a change in their appearance and / or texture.
Transport of drugs
As soon as they are marketed, medicines must follow a rigorous and specific thermal chain for each composition and presentation.
For any traveling during hot weather, transport your medicine in a case or insulated bag.
For medicines needing to be refrigerated, transport them in refrigerated insulated packaging.
Even with these transport packs, it is recommended not to expose the medicines directly to the sun's rays and not to keep them in a very hot place (such as car trunks) for very long.
