Doctors recommend postponing wild nights and physical activity until cooler weather.
Doctors recommend that Russians avoid sports and sex during extreme heat to avoid damaging their hearts and blood vessels, as the body works to its limits in abnormally high temperatures.
“This even applies to regular physical exercise and sports activities, such as daily jogging in the park and so on,” RIA Novosti quotes Igor Sergienko, MD, a senior researcher in the Atherosclerosis Department at the Russian Cardiology Research and Production Complex of the Russian Ministry of Health. According to the specialist, people with cardiovascular diseases should avoid exposure to direct sunlight in hot weather and should monitor their blood pressure.
Olga Zhikhareva, a cardiologist with the highest category, noted that sex in the heat is a double burden, increasing the risk of heart attack. “The demands placed on the heart during sex in the heat are comparable to running or climbing stairs at a fast pace. Therefore, people with cardiovascular problems should avoid sex in the heat,” she said.
Psychotherapist, sexologist, and professor at the Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis, Alexander Poleev, explained to a “Ytro” correspondent that doctors' recommendations apply more to people over 40, as they put too much strain on blood vessels.
“Furthermore, heat suppresses the release of all those hormones in the brain that provide pleasure. As a result, especially for those just beginning intimate relationships, it may seem like the sensations are more subdued, that this will continue, and that's how they really are. Although they're only this way because of the heat,” he said.
Two days ago, Gennady Onishchenko, head of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, advised employers in regions where temperatures have reached abnormally high levels to switch employees to a more relaxed work schedule and introduce afternoon breaks. “Of course, I spoke about this last year. We need to change work schedules (in hot weather), make them more relaxed, and we also need to create the most comfortable working conditions possible,” he emphasized.
Hot weather settled across European Russia in the middle of last week. According to forecasters, temperatures in the last month of summer will be slightly above average, and precipitation will be lower than usual. However, the abnormally hot summer of 2010 will not be repeated.