[Characteristics of elderly heat illness patients in Japan--analysis from Heatstroke STUDY 2010]

Heatstroke Surveillance Committee of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine (JAAM) collected the clinical data of 1,775 heat illness patients transported into 94 Emergency Medical Centers or Emergency Departments throughout Japan from 1 July to 31 August 2010 (Heatstroke STUDY 2010). Seven hundreds and four elderly patients' data revealed that 541 cases (80%) suffered from classical heatstroke in the ordinary life and the morbidity and mortality were much higher than those of exertional heatstroke patients. Hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and dementia were the risk factors of this disease. Forty nine patients (6.9%) were the victims of classical heatstroke and multiple organ failure include heart failure was the major cause of heat related death in acute phase after admission. No one died in exertional heatstroke group.