With summer, many people take advantage of their vacations to travel and we choose more and more varied and exotic destinations, but the change in climate and diet can cause cardiac problems. For example, in common heart diseases such as arterial hypertension and heart failure, adequate control of diet and hydration status is required, and salt consumption should be restricted in both diseases, but this is especially difficult when people travel as they regularly eat away from home. Likewise, the consumption of prepared foods that also have a high salt content may be frequent.
Hydration should also be monitored because many patients take diuretics (furosemide or thiazides, the most common), drugs that increase the amount of urine, to control blood pressure or reduce fluid retention in heart failure. When traveling to areas with high temperatures, the heat can cause some dehydration aggravated by diuretics, sometimes even damaging kidney function (called renal failure). In this case, it is advisable to consult your doctor beforehand in case it is necessary to reduce the dose of diuretic during the trip. In addition, it is important to remember that the ideal liquid is water, always avoiding sugary drinks, as approximately one third of people with heart problems are diabetics, so these drinks are clearly not recommended.
Traveler’s diarrhea
Finally, it should be remembered that in some areas traveler’s diarrhea is common, which causes the loss of a large amount of liquid with the stool and can lead to dehydration, and therefore a temporary reduction in the dose of diuretics may be required during the trip. These are a series of simple precautions that can help us to prevent cardiovascular risks before starting our trip.