Keep summer illnesses at bay

Hyderabad: Experts in seasonal ailments, public health specialists and general physicians have urged people to ensure they take maximum measures to avoid getting exposed to the heat wave and become a sunstroke victim. Individuals with co-morbid medical conditions like chronic heart and kidney ailments, stroke victims, diabetics, hypertension, pregnant women and children are high-risk groups and they are most vulnerable in case they get a sun stroke.

If individuals with co-morbid conditions get exposed to heat wave, then their core body temperatures rise rapidly to alarming levels. Once the body temperature rises, other systems in the body get impacted leading to nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, disorientation, dizziness, fatigue and in the end, the entire organs in the body simply shut down.

“A typical healthy person with no pre-existing medical conditions can survive getting exposed to heat wave for a prolonged period of time. However, this is not the case with individuals with chronic heart, kidney ailments, persons with neurological disorders, obese, pregnant women and children,” says Superintendent, Fever Hospital, Dr K Shankar.

Based on the previous trends of sunstrokes in Telangana, health officials have said that a majority of the suns stroke fatalities have co-morbid conditions. For past two years, many in the urban centres did not venture out due to Covid pandemic. Moreover, the temperatures did not rise to 40 degree Celsius so early. However, this year, mercury is already touching 40 degree Celsius in April, a clear indication that sun strokes will rise, Dr Shankar said.

Loss of fluid or dehydration during a sun stroke gives rise to blood urea, leading to formation of stones. As a result, it is important for persons with chronic kidney ailments to keep hydrating themselves during peak summer.

Extreme exposure to health causes imbalance of vital minerals in the body including sodium, potassium, electrolytes and vitamins, which adversely impacts the brain, a condition known as metabolic encephalopathy, which is a broad category that describes abnormality in water, electrolytes, vitamins and other chemicals that impact brain functioning. Due to the impact to brain functioning, quite often, sun stroke victims often struggle to find their bearings and are disoriented.