CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – With weather forecast citing a high of over 30 degrees centigrade in the next days in Central Luzon, the Department of Health (DOH) here has urged menfolk to shed their machismo and use umbrellas to protect themselves from the sweltering heat of the sun.
Dr. Jesse Fantone, chief of the epidemiology department of the DOH regional office for Central Luzon, said umbrellas offer better protection from the sun’s heat outdoors as it can cover more parts of the body than baseball caps.
He lamented the common perception that umbrellas are strictly for women and its use by men would infringe on their masculinity.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has noted temperatures as high as 34.8 degrees centigrade last Holy Saturday in Metro Manila. It approximated temperature noted in this city.
PAGASA has noted that the maximum “comfort level” for atmospheric temperature is at 29 degress centigrade.
Fantone noted that the use of umbrella by men was introduced way back in the mid-18th Century by philanthropist Jonas Hanway in Great Britain, to protect himself not only from the rain, but also from the sun.
Fantone issued his umbrella-use appeal after a 38-year-old employee of Mabalacat City collapsed and died recently arising from “heat stress.”
Dr. Ryan Canlas said victim Gerry Maristela’s blood pressure was found to have shot up to 300 over 180, after he collapsed at the height of high temperature at about 1 p.m. at the Mabalacat City hall. He also noted that the victim had not been taking his blood pressure medication.
Fantone said men should not be embarrassed in using umbrellas which are usually associated with women.
“The fact is we have parasol to protect us from the sun and para-agua to protect us from the rain,” he said.
Fantone said heat stress occurs when the body cannot cool itself enough to maintain a healthy temperature.
This, he noted, can lead to heat rash, heat cramps, dizziness or fainting, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and a worsening of existing medical conditions.
He noted that the word umbrella is derived from the Latin word “umbra” which means shade.
The website oakthriftumbrellas.com said the first umbrellas were made for protection from the sun and were “possibly inspired from the canopy of a tree, which would offer a cool shade from the heat of the day.”
“The origins of the umbrella are most probably China in 11th century B.C. although ancient sculptures have been found in Nineveh, Persepolis and Thebes (Egypt) depicting the use of umbrellas. There is also evidence of umbrellas or parasols being used at the same period in India.
The first umbrellas were most probably a converted branch of a tree (for example giant banana leaves) or a hat on a stick, which gave rise to the umbrella, as we know it today,” said the website.
It said that the term parasol was derived from the Latin words parere, which means to prepare, and sol, which means sun.
“Generally a parasol is now regarded as a sunshade and umbrella as a rain protector, but this distinction only evolved during the late 18th century. Before then umbrellas and parasols both offered protection against the sun, but that parasols were carried over the person it shaded rather than an umbrella, which was carried by the person it shaded,”” noted the website.
The website also noted that it was “during the period 1685-1705 that the idea of a waterproof umbrella was established. Known at first as an umbrellow, from the French word ombrelle, which in itself was derived from ombrellino, the inclemency of the English weather ensured the umbrella’s success.”
It also noted that “between the World Wars, it became very fashionable for gentlemen to have a black umbrella with a silk and/or cotton canopy and crook handle and the stereotype of the city gent lived on after World War II.”
