Nagpur.
With 37 years of medical practice behind him, Dr. Arjun Bhojwani is perhaps one of the most senior and experienced General Practitioners in Nagpur. Unfortunately, this category of a family physician is almost dead now – making the experience and knowledge of someone like Dr. Bhojwani more valuable.
With summer temperatures soaring and and the atmosphere becoming hot and humid too, we expect more sickness and disease. But Dr. Arjun had some surprises for us.
With school terms over and children staying at home mostly in front of coolers and ACs playing indoor games, summer has become a healthy season, according to the doctor.
“If during other seasons I see over 80 patients a day in my OPD ( out patient department) in summers I see around 60 only. It is a misconception that more people fall sick during summers! May be that was true 2 – 3 decades ago when coolers weren’t so common and people were not taking enough precautions. But now, almost each and every house is kept cool with artificial means and because of internet everyone is aware of tips like you need to drink more water in this season, so incidence of disease is less.” Says Dr. Bhojwani.
The dreaded viral infection that everyone was fearing this winter, Swine flu, has vanished completely. Hepatitis also is rare. ” I have not had any patient of hepatitis recently” the doctor tells us.
“Yes, but one ailment that has surprisingly surfaced is Chicken pox. I am seeing at least 3 patients a day and have treated more than 50 already. It is not just affecting children but adults, or those over 16 too, which is rare.”
Asked about the reason for this, Dr. Bhojwani says it could be that the rains and relatively cool weather that we had some days ago could have revived the virus that causes this painful disease. So, if you , or your kids have fever with boils and eruptions, do not assume it is because of eating too many mangoes, please take him to a doctor immediately!
Another ailment that can strike more these days, specially among the elderly, is gastroenteritis or ‘stomach flu’. To avoid being affected the doctor advises that everyone, but especially the elderly must avoid eating stale food altogether. Even eating food cooked in the mornings by late afternoon could become a problem.
Also, there are more weddings in this season. And we all know how wedding food is – spicy, hot and oily. A perfect ‘recipe’ for stomach disorders. There is just one precaution to take – avoid eating at weddings!
Finally, Dr. Arjun Bhojwani repeated the precautions to take that we all are mostly aware of –
- Avoid street food
- Cover your head and ears while out
- Give your body time to acclimatize. When you come in from hot outdoors, do not go in front of cooler or AC immediately.
- Do not drink cold water from the fridge immediately on coming home. You could certainly catch a sore throat.
- Avoid stale and rich and spicy food. Eat more fruits, and simple food.
- Drink plenty of water and other fluids.
Enjoy the summer!
…Sunita Mudliar
