Rhianna Benson
With a heatwave on the horizon in the UK right now, and a baking hot summer in full-swing in the States, a vital medical warning has been issued to takers of several different types of medication.
It's not uncommon for doctors and nurses to use their platforms around this time of year to raise awareness of weather-related conditions - like heatstroke, sunburn or allergies.
For example, in the last few months alone, medics have issued advice against sleeping with the fan on all summer due to the 'hidden stresses' it can inflict upon the body, and attempted to suggest why we're all sneezing so much at the minute.
This week, however, experts from Houston Methodist Hospital are centring their attention on prescription pills - a number of which are at risk of being impacted by the summer months.
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As the health website explains, certain drugs are susceptible to having their effectiveness tainted by both the heat and sunlight that come with this warmer time of year.
Some medications are even deemed somewhat intolerant to heat, on top of leaving takers of them super sensitive to the sun.
Explaining this phenomenon, Nish Shah - a primary care sports medicine doctor at Houston Methodist Hospital - told press recently: "Some medications impair the body's ability to regulate its temperature, increasing the risk of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
"Others make the skin more sensitive to sunlight, called photosensitivity, which can lead to an increased risk of not just sunburn but skin damage."
A number of medications can be affected by high temperatures and humidity, even if the day itself isn't very sunny.
And even more alarmingly, these drugs range from treating high blood pressure to assisting with anxiety.
These include:
As we say, other medications might also affect the taker's proneness to sun sensitivity - especially when it comes to potential skin damage.
These include:
