What is a key difference between heat stress and heat illness?

The correct answer highlights that heat illness encompasses various medical conditions that arise from excessive exposure to heat. These disorders can manifest in different ways, including heat exhaustion, heat cramps, and heat stroke, each representing a step along the spectrum of heat-related issues. Understanding this distinction is important because heat illness requires medical attention and intervention, whereas heat stress may be more of a physiological state indicating the body's response to heat exposure.

In contrast, while heat stress does relate to the body's condition in hot environments, it does not fully capture the range of health issues associated with prolonged heat exposure. Heat stress often refers to the body struggling to maintain its normal temperature, which can lead to physical symptoms but not necessarily a diagnosed disorder like heat illness. Therefore, recognizing that heat illness includes specific disorders related to excessive heat helps to clarify the impacts of heat exposure on health.