Heat-related ailments on the rise

Doctors point out that once the elderly, especially diabetics and kidney and heart patients, are exposed to hot sun for a long time, their core body temperatures rise.

For the past fortnight, Hyderabad has been reeling under an immense spell of heat wave, triggering a spate of heat-related ailments, including sunstroke cases. The severity of the heat has been such that close to 200 persons in the Telangana State have succumbed to the intensity of the searing heat.

Needless to say, the outpatient wards of state-run hospitals, including Gandhi, Osmania and Fever Hospitals, are overflowing with patients with a variety of complications arising due to the rise in temperatures. The major causes of such cases, the doctors point out, is exposure to the sun for a long time, consumption of untreated water and quite often eating stale food.

Doctors point out that once the elderly, especially diabetics and kidney and heart patients, are exposed to hot sun for a long time, their core body temperatures rise wreaking havoc with other systems of the body. The clinical manifestations are heavy perspiration, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, disorientation, dizzy feeling and fatigue.

“Extreme heat causes imbalance of sodium, potassium, electrolytes and vitamins in the body, which adversely impacts the brain, a condition known as metabolic encephalopathy. There are situations when due to excess heat, some will also have fatal heart attacks. It’s better that elderly persons with chronic kidney and heart ailments avoid exposure to heat and drink a lot of potable water,” says Superintendent, Fever Hospital, Dr. K. Shankar.

The district medical and health officials have already issued an alert urging public to not venture out or do hard physical labour in the afternoons.

“Daily labourers and their children are at a huge risk in summer because of lack of access of potable water, food poisoning and heat strokes. In the last few weeks, our aim has been to spread awareness among them on the aspect of summer ailments,” says DMHO, Hyderabad, Dr. P. Venkateswar Rao.

Kidney specialists warn chronic patients because dehydration leads to increased blood urea, stone formation due to concentrated urine and cramps on dialysis. “There are also chances of acute kidney injury and hyperthermia. Less fluid should be removed during dialysis among kidney patients and for heat stroke patients dialysis should be done with a cold dialysate,” advises, Professor, Nephrology, Gandhi Hospital, Dr. Pradeep Desphande.