Patna: Researchers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna have made an important scientific finding that explains how heat stroke can lead to death. The study, conducted by the Forensic Medicine department along with experts from Anatomy and Pathology, has identified a specific area of the brain that gets severely affected during extreme heat exposure. This discovery is expected to help doctors and forensic experts better understand and confirm heat stroke as a cause of death.
The research is especially important as India continues to face intense heatwaves in many regions. The study focused on cases where individuals were exposed to very high temperatures, reaching up to 48°C, along with high humidity levels of up to 95%. In several cases, the exposure lasted between five to eight hours during the 2024 heatwave in the Patna region. Scientists studied these cases in detail through post-mortem examinations to understand what happens inside the body during fatal heat stroke.
According to Dr Ashok Kumar Rastogi, who led the study, the most serious damage was found in the anterior hypothalamus, a small but very important part of the brain that controls body temperature. When this area gets damaged, the body loses its ability to regulate heat, which can lead to death. The study suggests that this damage can now be used as strong scientific evidence in identifying heat stroke deaths during autopsies.
Until now, doctors often found it difficult to confirm heat stroke as the exact cause of death because the signs inside the body were not always clear. This sometimes led to confusion in post-mortem reports and legal cases. The new findings from AIIMS Patna aim to solve this problem by giving forensic experts a more reliable method to diagnose heat stroke deaths with scientific backing.
The study may also have wider social and legal benefits. Once the cause of death is clearly established, families of the deceased can more easily access compensation, insurance payouts, and government benefits. Experts believe this research could improve both medical understanding and legal clarity in heat-related deaths, especially as extreme heat events become more frequent in the coming years.
