Sunstroke

Beat the heat and keep summer blues away.

Summer is the time when the heat can take its toll and cause heat related illnesses. Heat exhaustion, as it is termed, occurs when there is exposure to intense and hot temperatures. This can lead to cramps and if left unattended, also to heat stroke or sunstroke.

We commonly hear people complaining of tiredness and irritability after exposure to heat while the loss of water and essential salts from the system can make one feel drained out. The body tries to balance its temperature at about 98.4 degrees Fahrenheit so that the organs function at a desired pace. This balance is achieved by the body losing water through sweat pores on the skin even as the blood is flushed to various extremities to carry out this function. This is also the reason why blood, which is transiently rushed out to various corners, does not reach the brain in sufficient amounts thereby giving rise to symptoms of heat exhaustion.

During this stage the skin is cool and perspiration occurs. If it extends further there are cramps in the muscles of the extremities and pain. Then the person experiences weakness, dizziness, headache and nausea. But undue exposure to heat can also cause the part of the brain which regulates the metabolism of body temperature to malfunction and lead to heatstroke. In this state, the body temperature can even reach 105 F. The skin turns becomes red, hot and dry with a rapid and weak pulse. This is followed by shallow breathing and vomiting and in worse cases there is loss of consciousness.

Ideally, with proper lifestyle, heat related illnesses can be avoided. Wearing light coloured clothing will help reflect sun rays to an extent. Staying indoors, whenever possible, is warranted. Strenuous physical exercise should be avoided during the warmer part of the day. Drinking plenty of water and avoiding coffee, tea and alcohol can prevent dehydration. Eating small meals often would help the system further.

But if one has already developed heat exhaustion, shifting the affected to the cooler confines of home is ideal. They should be encouraged to drink water more often. If nausea and vomiting with altered levels of consciousness is noticed, they should be given cold water compress with ice packs.

Since heatstroke is a life-threatening condition there may be a need to replace the electrolytes lost through intravenous supplementation.

 

Homoeopathic medicine has good remedies like Kali phos and Ferrum phos, wh ich can allay the side effects of heat and a few tablets of these medicines at biochemic doses prevent bad effects. Headache, dizziness when causes on exposure to heat of sun can be cured by Belladonna, Natrum carb and Na trum mur. If there are other symptoms like nausea and dizziness, Glonine, Antim crud and Camphor can be used. This summer, have fun and stay cool with homoeopathy.