How to Help Your Body Beat the Heat, or Not

In normal weather in Geezer’s part of the world, his body radiates the heat to the air. But, as this piece in the L.A, Times explains, if
the outside temperature exceeds his body temperature of
approximately 98.6 degrees, the environment is radiating its heat
toward him. And that’s when the sweating starts. As the sweat evaporates, the Times reports, it uses heat from our skin, cooling us down.  Unfortunately, if it’s humid, and it is very humid at this moment in Geezer’s part of the world, evaporation
doesn’t work. Dr. Larry Baraff, who works in emergency medicine at UCLA, tells the Times that when evaporation fails, it’s a good idea to jump into a cold shower or use wet washcloths to allow the
toastiness to dissipate quickly through a process called conduction.
The heat, the Times informs us, is transferred to the water — in other words, it’s literally
washed away, and we can live to sweat another day. Thank you doctor.
For readers who want the inside story, so to speak, the Times tell us why (and how) we sweat:
The body keeps tabs on its internal temperature via a thermoregulator
in a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. If it senses the body
is overheated, the brain cranks up the sweat glands as well as the
cardiovascular system. The brain shunts more blood to the skin, because the blood carries heat from the
internal parts of the body to the surface. Wait, there’s more: A
system of proteins within cells also helps stave off damage from heat.
Called heat shock proteins, these special molecules stabilize important
enzymes and other proteins from denaturing — which protects internal
organs from damage.
Read more about life and death in 100 degree weather from the L.A. Times.
Read about heat stroke first aid from the Mayo Clinic.