{"id":778353,"date":"2026-07-03T20:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T20:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/778353\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T20:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T20:28:08","slug":"iowa-pharmacist-warns-certain-medications-can-increase-heat-related-illness-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/778353\/","title":{"rendered":"Iowa pharmacist warns certain medications can increase heat-related illness risk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">ADEL, Iowa (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcci.com\/article\/pharmacist-warns-of-heat-risks-for-people-on-common-medications\/71812495\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.kcci.com\/article\/pharmacist-warns-of-heat-risks-for-people-on-common-medications\/71812495\">KCCI<\/a>) &#8211; As temperatures rise across Iowa, a local pharmacy owner is warning that certain medications can increase the risk of heat-related illness.- KCCI reports<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Leslie Herron, owner of Sumpter Pharmacy in Adel, said people taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, are more likely to experience side effects when sweating excessively in the heat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cBecause they impact the same part of our brain that temperature regulation comes from, it can lower our ability to cool ourselves,\u201d Herron said.<\/p>\n<p>Other medications also pose risks<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">SSRIs, commonly prescribed to treat depression, anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder, are not the only medications that can make heat harder on the body. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Diuretic medications are commonly prescribed to treat hypertension or edema, and cause increased water loss and lead to dehydration. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">ADHD medications also carry a risk of raising internal body temperature.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Herron said many people on these medications do not realize they are at a higher risk of heat-related illness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIn increased heat, you just think, well, it\u2019s hot out,\u201d she said. \u201cBut those of us that take those medications are at a greater risk of those side effects and a greater risk of falling victim to things like heat stroke, heat exhaustion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Heat can also affect the medications themselves<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Extreme heat can also break down the medications. Herron said storing medications in places like a bathroom, car, or purse where conditions can be hot and humid can cause them to degrade over time. She said medications should be kept in a cool, dry place and should not be refrigerated unless directed by a medical professional.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t skip doses<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Herron said the most important advice is not to skip doses. SSRIs, antipsychotics and blood pressure medications are not meant to be stopped suddenly. She said anyone looking to stop a medication should speak with their healthcare provider first.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 KCCI. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ADEL, Iowa (KCCI) &#8211; As temperatures rise across Iowa, a local pharmacy owner is warning that certain medications&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[49,48,275809,84,16581,275807,1425,275808,377,275805,275806],"class_list":["post-778353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-diuretics-adhd-heat-stroke-risk","tag-health","tag-heat-wave","tag-heat-related-illness-medications","tag-iowa","tag-iowa-pharmacy-heat-warning","tag-medication","tag-medication-heat-side-effects-iowa","tag-ssris-heat-risk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}