Blue skies, rolling surf, red earth, blazing sun. These are the images people bring to mind when they think of Australia. But it is the latter, the endless days of hot sunshine that are harming us, both young and old, in increasing numbers. During heatwaves many older people become dehydrated and end up in the hospital. Some of them die. It’s a fate all too familiar to emergency physicians in Queensland, and across Australia and something I have witnessed all too often. Longreach, in the Queensland outback.Credit:Tourism & Events Queensland In the US, emergency physicians call the syndrome “BRASH”, describing low blood pressure, kidney failure, altered sodium, and high potassium in the blood. Any one of these things can be lethal. The deadly combination could show up as an inability for an older person to get out of bed, dizziness, possible collapse or an altered mental state. Similarly, young […]