MCALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — August is the hottest month in the Valley, and even as the area enters September, temperatures are still high. Medical professionals caution that it is important for residents to stay informed when it comes to heat awareness.

Dr. Francisco Torres, an emergency physician and medical educator working in the South Texas Health System ER in McAllen, said there are degrees of heat-related illnesses. They are all part of the same condition, but progress through different stages.

“They go from the basics, which would be heat cramps, which are the first signs and symptoms. Then you go into heat exhaustion. Then you go into a heat stroke, which is the most severe,” Torres said.

It begins with sweating, when the body loses electrolytes, it causes cramping. As more

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