Cancer treatment makes you more sensitive to heat

Chemotherapy is often accompanied by diarrhea, and severe diarrhea leads to dehydration. Add to that high summer temperatures, which cause you to sweat more, and your internal thermostat goes haywire. The same can happen with profuse vomiting: fluid loss, which is exacerbated in the sun by excessive sweating. Targeted therapies and immunotherapy sometimes cause fever as a side effect. As a result, they put a strain on your body’s internal temperature regulation, so it’s best to stay in a cool environment during a heat wave. People who rely on hormone therapy and experience the bothersome hot flashes that sometimes accompany it are also more affected by the sun. Cancer patients are at greater risk of heatstroke as a result of their treatment. If you start to feel unwell in high temperatures, your first priority should be to cool down.

The Importance of Proper Clothing

Sunlight consists of a broad spectrum of colors, like a rainbow. Each color has a different wavelength. Dark-colored clothing absorbs almost all wavelengths and heats up faster and more intensely than light-colored clothing. Light colors reflect most wavelengths and, therefore, also reflect some of the sunlight. Light-colored clothing therefore absorbs less heat, keeping your skin temperature lower compared to when you wear dark clothing. You’ll notice this difference most when wearing tight-fitting clothing, in direct sunlight, and when there’s little wind. If you wear a white T-shirt, your skin temperature will be just a tiny bit lower than when you wear a black T-shirt. However, if you opt for loose-fitting clothing, color plays little role, because there is a layer of air between your skin and the fabric. That layer of air is warmed by your skin on one side and your clothing on the other. Warm air rises and is replaced by cooler air. So, with loose-fitting clothing, you create a certain amount of air circulation. Loose-fitting clothing has a greater impact on your perceived temperature than the color of the clothing. Especially in windy conditions or with sufficient ventilation, loose-fitting clothing feels cooler, and color plays no role at all. That is why desert dwellers wear loose-fitting clothes in both dark and light colors.

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