The Hot Weather And Your Health …. By Eghosa Imasuen
Like most eligible Nigerians, I went to vote last Saturday. It was incredibly hot and we were in an open field. The only shade came from completely denuded trees and the small canopy under which sat the INEC officials and their paraphernalia. I sweated and sweated; it got to the point where I felt I was boiling in the steam from my reheated sweat. There was no wind to cool me down.
One of the things on my mind was Heat Illness. Heat Illness is a spectrum of disorders that occur due to exposure to heat, or lack of adequate cooling. It presents in symptoms as mild as a headache, to those as severe as loss of consciousness, convulsions (the Heat Stroke) and even death.
Somewhere next to me, an old woman swooned. She almost fell, and was caught by people next to her on the queue.
One of the common symptoms of heat illness is syncope. Syncope is best described as a short faint. It occurs because the body is trying to cool itself; the blood vessels are forced to dilate (i.e., widen) and thus the Blood Pressure drops precipitously and the person faints because of a reduction of flow to the brain.
As Nigerians are wont to do, they immediately surrounded her, some offering help, others gawking. I walked over to where the crowd had gathered, identified myself as a doctor and as soon as I discovered that two other doctors were already there, we forced the crowd back, asked for space then moved her to the shade, behind the INEC officials, well behind the ballot box.
I touched her. She was hot. Steaming. It was a counter-intuitive experience. The only hot people I had touched so far in my practice had been those with a fever. To see someone boiling hot and not shivering felt odd. She was not unconscious. She was delirious, was talking out of sync with her surroundings. She said she felt weak, felt hot, couldn’t breathe, needed air. The rambling slowed down to a murmur. We placed her in a supine position, ie, on her back, pulled open her blouse, took off her shoes, and one of us borrowed a file folder from the Youth Corpers and fanned her with it.
The mainstay of treatment of any form of heat illness is physical manipulation of the body temperature down back to normal. You want to expose the patient; you want to apply cold compresses. In those days, alcohol rubs were applied as these evaporated more quickly, but this is now frowned upon as it can cause increase in blood vessel dilation. A cool shade and ordinary cool water will do the trick. Also the water lost by sweating has to be replaced. This is normally done by a simple drink of water. But remember that sweat doesn’t contain water only. The patient has also lost electrolytes. This is one of the many uses of Oral Rehydration Solutions besides the treatment of diarrhoea. This is why oil workers in the rigs and offshore are sometimes dispensed salt tablets to suck on.
One of the doctors had run across the field to where hawkers had spread out their wares for sale. She came back lugging the contents of a cooler, the water from the melted ice. Another helper came back with satchets of pure water. We made the woman drink, and we soaked rags in the cool water and wiped her with them. We exposed her, all the while watching voters getting accredited; all the while scolding the INEC officials for keeping us out in the hot sun. Someone asked why no one came with an umbrella. A wag joked that that was the symbol of one of the political parties, and that it was an electoral offence to take party insignia with you to polling units. The woman who had fainted rested; the doctors, three of us, stayed with her, happy with ourselves to be out of the sun, and in the shade, behind the INEC officials, behind the ballot box.
Finally, we all got to vote and watched her as she walked home.
We aspire to be the leading healthcare company in Africa through the provision of world-class products and services.
Comments
1,972 Responses to “The Hot Weather And Your Health …. By Eghosa Imasuen”Trackbacks
Check out what others are saying about this post...Great information…
This can be marvelous. A particular looked at doing this content material when we are bowled over. We are attracted to this sort of tips. Our company appreciate each of your suggest, and cost your precious time inside this. Please keep control. They’r…
Bonjour…
You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!…
Hi…
It’s hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you sound like you know what youfre talking about! Thanks…
adsense…
I want to be able to customize a wordpress themes to make them look a bit more origional. I know you can change the colors, etc. But i want to be able to change the size of the boxes and such. I like iblog and am looking for something similar but the f…
health…
I used to be very happy to seek out this net-site.I wanted to thanks to your time for this excellent learn!! I definitely enjoying each little little bit of it and I’ve you bookmarked to check out new stuff you weblog post….
Great…
[...]please go to the web sites we comply with, like this one particular, because it represents our picks through the web[...]…
oneecig…
very good put up, i actually love this web site, keep on it…
Kobe Ortiz…
I used to be more than happy to find this internet-site.I needed to thanks in your time for this excellent learn!! I definitely having fun with every little little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you blog post….
jobs…
acting class coach teacher los angeles actor muscle online kids auditions becoming actor study personal training tutor I was more than happy to search out this web-site.I wished to thanks for your time for this glorious read!! I undoubtedly having fun …
make money online…
acting class coach teacher los angeles actor muscle online kids auditions becoming actor study personal training tutor Can I simply say what a reduction to find someone who truly knows what theyre speaking about on the internet. You definitely know eas…
obrazy olejne…
you’ve got an incredible blog right here! would you wish to make some invite posts on my weblog?…
naprawa ploterów HP…
Studying by way of the good content material, will aid me to do so at times….
Great website…
Cool post, I really enjoyed reading it. I will check out your site for some more content on this subject….
andy62358…
Can I just say what a aid to seek out somebody who really knows what theyre speaking about on the internet. You positively know methods to convey a difficulty to gentle and make it important. Extra individuals must read this and perceive this side of t…
of work. the more you implement these…
techniques, the more traffic you will get to your blog, and the more income you will make from your blog if you have monetized it correctly. i hope it all works out for you.good luck with getting lots of traffic to…
articles that grab the attention of the…
customers is not a piece of cake.there are a number of content writing companies over the internet that can deliver you the best content for your business. buy online articles from a company that is well-known for its quality of content…
Cebulki Kwiatowe…
I can’t subscribe for your channel…
amount of money online, and when they…
see how it easy it can be, they multiply their efforts, or add more potential streams of income, which then in turn leads to even more success. passive income might not come right away, but by continuing to do the proper,…
blog writing with making a plan that…
ought to include the people, the purpose, and the start date.ii) make a plan to measure the effects of the blog.iii) keep a marketing plan ready with detailed maneuvers as to how the company will promote the blog. try to know…
have to accomplish to start making money…
online, the list can be pretty scary. there are many different avenues you can travel to make money online, and all require some amount of work. blogging is rising very fast in terms of the popularity surrounding it and for good…
Your Trackbacks…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]…
Looking around…
I like to look in various places on the online world, often I will just go to Digg and follow thru…