Why could you die from a heat stroke?

Answer 1

Heat stroke is defined by a body temperature of greater than 40.6 °C (105.1 °F) due to environmental heat exposure with lack of thermoregulation. Symptoms include nausea and vomiting - which can lead to fatal dehydration. It can also lead to seizures and coma. It usually follows a period of intense sweating - although when heat stroke sets in, the body's thermoregulation mechanisms have been overloaded and the sweating has usually stopped. The sweating preceding the heat stroke will usually severely deplete the body's electrolytes - as will vomiting. Untreated heatstroke can cause damage to your brain, heart, kidneys and muscles. In response to heatstroke, these organs swell, and if you don't cool your body temperature quickly, the damage from this swelling could be permanent. Injured brain regions include the cerebellum and the cerebral cortex. As your body heats up, the blood vessels dilate to facilitate getting blood to the surface of the skin to dissipate the heat. This inlcudes organs that have a heavy dependence on blood flow such as the liver, kidneys, heart, brain, and gut. The extreme dilation of the blood vessels as the body tries to bring your temperature down can cause fatal damage to all of these organs - all of which are critical to your survival. These injuries get worse the longer treatment is delayed, increasing your risk of serious complications or death.