Heat Stress Video and DVD Excerpt: Your body is a powerful machine, capable of performing massive amounts of work. And like any machine when pushed hard, your body produces a lot of heat. Whether your outside in the hot sun, inside a busy factory, and even when you are bundled up against the cold, you need to be careful when your body warms up. A lot of heat causes your body to work overtime, to prevent overheating. Of course in hotter areas its even harder to cool off. You need to watch out. If the body becomes too hot it can suffer heat stress. This happens when high body temperatures break down your body's ability to function normally. Ignoring the signs of heat stress can lead to more serious problems, heat cramps, heat exhaustion or even heat stroke. To prevent heat stress, your body is constantly at work trying to keep you at a cool 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (your normal temperature). Let's take a look at how the process works. As your body temperature rises your body begins to direct more blood towards the skin's surface. This allows the blood to release heat and cool you off. If you compare your body to a car engine, your blood works just like coolant. As the cool circulates through the engine it removes heat, once the heat is released the coolant returns to the engine to keep it cool.