Heatstroke sends over 10,000 people to hospital for 2nd week in a row

unbelievable.

Heat stroke is hard to understand when it comes on you. I was walking 22 kilos when it hit me at 11. Scary.

This week isn't as bad as last week. Now last week it was totally unbearable even at 5 in the morning.

What's amazing is that nearly all of the cases are preventable; it's either old people who don't like air-conditioning or are out at hobby farms swaddled in an obscene amount of clothing, or else kids practicing for sports day, or workers forced to work in the heat and direct sunlight. These articles often mention what percentage were seniors (in this case it was 52% according to other news sources), but they never wish to go into detail about other age groups because they might have to curtail some of the 'ganbare' cultural activities like sports day or club practice (ie. baby-sitting) on the dirt fields at the peak of day.

It's a LITTLE cooler today -- 33 instead of 36 -- and you can feel it, but still easy to get heat stroke if you're ignoring the symptoms and not taking in enough liquids (non-diuretic).

Clothes of cotton keep you cooler Smith. All the field workers, and lawn people wear them in Florida.

MyTimeisYourTime: "Clothes of cotton keep you cooler Smith. All the field workers, and lawn people wear them in Florida."

They wear thing layers of cotton clothes that provide that are airy, and the level of humidity is not the same. Here people will wear layers upon layers UPON layers, some with even face makes that have only a slit at the eyes (recently the Darth Vader ladies at tennis, for example). I can understand the desire of many to keep out of the direct sun, for sure, but the way many dress is entirely impractical, including tying a towel around your neck (keeps in heat, despite being convenient for wiping sweat!).

Mr. Smith:

Please look at humidity levels for Miami and Tokyo. They are quite the same. These lawn, street and other outside workers wear many layers, and cover their heads, faces and hands. They are heavy cotton clothing for working outside, not your so called airy cotton fashionable clothing women wear here. They do not tie towels around their necks though. So that is a plus. >They put in 10-12 hours a day out there like that. They stay cool and hydrated.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency says that 11,219 people were taken to hospitals nationwide to be treated for heatstroke in the week from Aug 2 to Aug 9, surpassing 10,000 for the second week in a row.

11,219 people! That's incredible!

After the end of the rainy season this year, I ended up running my A/C almost around the clock. Not to mention drinking plenty of water including lots of isotonic drinks. At any rate, it's very hot!

Monozuki: Does the heat really bother you that much? I find it kind of pleasant and rarely use the air conditioner. Electric bills would be too high, and until they start up more nuclear reactors, bills will stay high.

Is the rise in numbers of heat -strokes a new phenomenon? What is the maximum -minimum temperature range during this season? The news appears to be scary. Is Japan facing the perils of climate change?

I'd be interested to know heat stroke stats for other places in the world with hot summers. I think here are more here than other places. You hear ambulances all the time. I agree with many comments here. Nuclear plants are off so the fear of electricity bills is high, so the subtle message is don't use air conditioning at home. Sit in the bathtub. Of course trains, supermarkets, convenience stores are freezing. That's business.

In most cases..stupid is as stupid does. (I hope no high school or junior high school students were forced to run or do other exerting exercises in the middle of the day).

"...and until they start up more nuclear reactors, bills will stay high."

Nice one :) My thought too

MyTimeIsYourTime: "They put in 10-12 hours a day out there like that. They stay cool and hydrated."

All you're doing is proving my point, really. Why does this always happen in Japan? And in any case, I was never talking about regular field workers, I was talking about people who have hobby farms, as I believe I said (or have on other threads, at any rate). Someone who works regularly outdoors as a farmer or landscaper knows what they are doing and what is proper. People swaddled in clothes (cotton or not) out on hobby farms, or in space suits playing tennis, or just in dirt fields (sports fields in Japan usually don't have grass, and never at schools) at the peak of day, do not, or have no choice.

memoryfix: "Nuclear plants are off so the fear of electricity bills is high, so the subtle message is don't use air conditioning at home."

Newsflash, buddy; the electricity rates won't go down even if the plants come on. Electricity is being increased every year, and still was high enough with nuclear power, and they're not going to lower it when the NPPs come on. So yes, some avoid using air-con simply to save power and money, but you can cut the nuclear village promotion.

My ac is on 24/7 - set at a balmy 26 degrees celsius.I pay 7-8k yen a month. A small price to pay for my health....

Hydration, and dress accordingly. Your urination is expelling excess fluids and toxins and will retain it if not enough fluids are consumed. Perspiration is the redirection of the fluids when needed for cooling thus reducing urination. Non-alchoholic fluids I should add.

@MyTimeIsYourTime

Haha. I guess you're much yonger than me. I mean I have two grandkids. Yes, as you guessed I'm rather an old man. And when I was very young, I would alway say like what you say. LOL.

Tokyo is a concrete jungle so I can understand why the numbers are so high.

I misread it as 100,000. Might as well be since nothing will be done about it.

Meanwhile 5m down it's 10C. There's your air conditioning not requiring nuclear to get to. Since it's a characteristic of land it's accessible to any sized building. Geo-exchange would be pretty straightforward.

Don't worry, nothing will come of that either. As long as the nuclear industry is not threatened, lives don't matter. See you next week

I notice data do not have Kyushu Chugoku Okinawa. Dry weather?

They continue to play baseball at Koshien with thousands of fans sitting in the heat. Wonder how many people had some form of heat stroke there?

Well it sure is cooler today folks. I am wearing jeans.