Beat the heat

Summer, in most tropical countries like ours, ushers in a whole range of diseases. This is because high temperatures above 30 degrees Cels...

Summer, in most tropical countries like ours, ushers in a whole range of diseases. This is because high temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius provide a fertile breeding ground for germs.

Dry heat, like in the interiors of India, is bad; people are more vulnerable to sun strokes there. High humidity in coastal regions like Mumbai, helps keep sunstrokes at bay. But one tends to perspire a lot in the city and exhaustion is, therefore, the most common complaint during the season.Scorching heat reduces the appetite of most people and a great amount of water and salts, important to the body, are lost by way of perspiration.

Exhaustion is then coupled with giddiness. The metabolism of the body is disturbed. Of the components of salt, sodium has a positive charge and chloride a negative one. The salts are delicately balanced in our blood. If one perspires a lot and sits in a cool place, one can feel salt residue behind the ears. The prominent feature of summer, therefore, is excessive thirst.

People in a city like ours, stay away from home for a great part of the day and tend to drink water, nimbu paani and fruit juice from the many road-side stalls. It8217;s here that the actual trouble begins. The reason is clear. The water used in most of these stalls is contaminated. Surveys conducted on samples of water from such stalls, indicate that the water contains germs of hepatitis, typhoid and other such water borne diseases. Drinks from such stalls then lead to gastro-intestinal infections, abdominal cramps and indigestion.

The most vulnerable part of our body, during summer, is the skin. Fungal infections, boils and various other eruptions are very common. This is the time when chicken pox and measles erupt. Similarly, droplet infections like tuberculosis, too, are generally on the rise. This is because the saliva, spat out by a TB patient dries up faster than usual and the germs can easily float in the air reaching and infecting normal people.

And most of all, people should refrain from drinking juice from road-side stalls. It is always advisable to have a whole fruit rather than having fruit juice. People should stick to cooked food; having raw salads outside can prove harmful.

Drinking at least 8 glasses of water and having a bath twice a day will do wonders for the heat sick. It is a misconception that non-vegetarian food is bad during summer. A good control on whatever we indulge in, is the key to good health 8212; in any season.