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We're talking about new research breakthroughs this week on Healthwatch. People with congestive heart failure are at increased risk for heat-related illnesses. Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have discovered why this is.
When the human body gets too hot, it cools itself by sweating and by dilating the blood vessels in the skin so more blood flows to the body's surface, which allows the heat to be dispersed. The researchers found that the surface blood vessels in heart failure patients don't dilate as much as those of normal patients, which hampers the body's ability to cool itself.
Dr. Benjamin Levine, one of the UT Southwestern cardiologists who led the study, says this is why patients with heart failure have to take special care in hot weather, since their bodies are less able to deal with the heat.
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October 2005
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