Some Don’t Like It Hot

Hot weather is bound to bring out the crankiness in even the most even-tempered, says Dr. Alexander Lampone, medical director of the emergency department at St. John’s Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica.

Factor in the humidity and we can feel uncomfortable pretty quickly, he says.

Certain people feel the heat more acutely than others, says Tom Anderson, an exercise physiologist at Centinela Hospital’s Fitness Institute in Culver City. Among them: obese people, pregnant women and the elderly.

Well-conditioned athletes are more sensitive to temperature changes, Anderson adds, and begin to sweat sooner than others. But they are also better able to cope with temperature changes.

If your reaction to heat is to head to the neighborhood bar for a cold one, think again because “alcohol actually inhibits the body’s own cooling system,” says Anderson.