Extreme heat and your heart: Safety tips and warning signs

Extreme heat can do more than leave you feeling uncomfortable. It can put serious strain on your body, especially your heart.

Spending time outdoors in hot temperatures causes your heart to work harder as your body works to cool you off. Add dehydration to the mix, and your heart can experience significant stress.

For people with healthy hearts, extreme heat is just sticky and uncomfortable. For people with cardiovascular disease, it can be dangerous.

"When we're in hot environments, the body pushes more blood flow to the skin to help release heat, which forces the heart to pump harder and faster. For people with cardiovascular disease, dehydration and high temperatures can significantly increase stress on the heart," said Charu Gupta, MD, a cardiologist at Endeavor Health.

Some people are more vulnerable to heat-related illness than others, including older adults, young children and people living with heart disease.

People taking certain heart medications, such as beta blockers, angiotensin receptor blockers, ace inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, and diuretics should take steps to avoid overheating, as these medications can affect the body's normal response to heat.

"This doesn't mean you should stop taking your medication. Instead, make sure you take steps to avoid extreme heat," Dr. Gupta said. "Anyone with heart disease should take precautions in hot weather, as the physical stress it causes could lead to heart attack or stroke."