Sumner has started. Even at the early stage, it has started scorching. We have to confront the heat, itching, sweat, and fatigue for the coming 3 months! How to prevent these diseases and protect ourselves?  

Here are a few useful tips:

Prickly heat - The normal temperature for the human body is 37 degrees Celsius. It is quite normal for the ambient temperature to touch even 45 Degrees Celsius during summer. In order to maintain our normal body heat level, we tend to sweat a lot. If we do not maintain our body clean, the sweat glands will accumulate dirt and get blocked. If we take bath twice a day,  we will not get prickly heat. Applying calamine lotion on the prickly heat will reduce itchiness.

Polyps - Unwanted material such as salt and urea will not be released by skin affected by prickly heat. They will stay on the skin and stay as dirt on the prickly heat. With bacterial attack, this area gets swollen. Antibiotic drugs and ointments are the solution for this complaint. Avoid long outings in the sun.

Fungus infection - Fungus will enter the moist areas in our body quite easily. Particularly, it is easy for the fungus to enter the prickly heat areas. With this, itching will get more intense and the skin will get rough in the arras. Ointments and powders reducing rash can be applied. It is very important to keep our underclothes clean – this can alone prevent fungus infection.

Difficulty in urination - This is common in summemer. Excessive sweating and failure to drink sufficient quantity of water are the reasons. The quantity of urine also will be reduced. The salts that are passed along with urine tend to solidify and get crystallized on the urinal path. This creates the difficulty to pass urine. Drinking sufficient quantity of water is the only cure.

Infectious diseases - cooked food items tend to go bad during severe summer. Disease making Germs and bacteria settle on these and multiply quickly. Eating this food will lead to vomit. Diarrheas, Cholera, typhoid and jaundice. So, it is better to eat the food items prepared during summer immediately. Do not allow flies and mosquitoes to fly * sit over these items. Water should be boiled and cooled before usage.

Fatigue due to heat - During the period as sever summer, body heat tends to rise to 106 Degrees Fahrenheit. The body tends to sag and gets tired. There will be severe thirst. Headache, vomiting, dizziness, and giddiness may appear. Severe heat during summer ends to remove some essentials salts in the body leading to the above complaints.

Sunstroke - We might have watched people working or walking on the road (during summer) to collapse and faint. This is due to sunstroke. Under severe summer, the blood vessels in the body expand and make way for the blood to get stagnated in the parts below the waist. This affects the blood flow to the heart and reduces the blood pressure. The brain fails to get sufficient blood. This leads to fainting.

First Aid for sunstroke - Take the affected person to a cooler area. Make him lie down under the fan. Loosen the clothes and ensure that cool air touches all parts of the body. Do not use any pillows for head-rest. Keep the feet a little above. Give a sponge bath with wet cloth. More importantly, arrange saline water and glucose drips for the affected person. Take him/her to the doctor immediately.

Water - Humidity tend to be very high in cities like Chennai. The sweat released by the human does not evaporate immediately. So, the body temperature will not drop. However, sweating will continue. Elements such as Potassium and sodium get released causing excessive water removal.. The body tires. To avoid this, drink some water every hour. Even when staying in an air-conditioned facility or even when not feeling so thirsty, still it is important to take 3 to 5 litres of water every day during summer.

Avoid aerated cool drinks!!! - Reduce taking coffee and tea during summer. Also, avoid aerated cool drinks. Taking excessive cold drinks contracts the blood veins and increases the heat.

Instead of cold drinks, it is better to take sherbets, tender coconut, jiggery water, etc. These drinks contain Sodium and Potassium which absorb the excess heat in the body  and condition its temperature. These counter the excess loss of water and prevent the related diseases. Taking lemon juice with salt or sugugar is a cheap but very effective step. 

Eat more fruits - Watermelon, cucumber, guava, papaya, orange, grapes, pineapple, jackfruit, and melon can be taken more often. These are rich in Potassium. This will offset the Potassium which tends to get released with the sweat during summer. Fruits are the best to avoid fatigue caused by heat.

Avoid oil!! - Avoid food items deep fried in oil. Also, avoid excessive sweet items such as creamy cakes, and bakery items, Burger, pizza, and ice cream as they induce thirst. Again, avoid hot and spicy items with masala.

Best Summer foods - Idlis, Idiyappams, Curd rice, buttermilk rice, millet porridge, greens, carrot, beetroot, okra (lady’s finger), radish, bitter gourd, snake gourd, flat beans, cabbage, banana stems, onion (with curd), and tomato are some of the best summer food items.

During the evenings, it is better to take cucumber salad, watermelon juice or soup, tomato soup, and vegetable soup. Taking millet porridge mixed in curd reduces the body heat quickly. Both millet and curd have the property to absorb the body heat.

Avoid moving out for long periods in the sun - Avoid being out in the sun for not more than a period of 2 hours. Avoid outings between 12 Noon and 4 PM. If the outing is must, take an umbrella. Please move in the shadowy zones. Elders and very young children can especially avoid exposure in the sun. It is inviting trouble! If travelling in the sun for along period, use sun-glasses!

Keep care on your dress - Cotton is the best for summer. Avoid tight fitting dresses and use the slightly loose ones. Dark colored cloths absorb heat and so better to avoid them. Also, avoid cloths of synthetic fibers. White is most suitable. Hose allergic to sunlight can apply sunscreen lotions or ointments before moving out.