Doctors across Calcutta have over the past few days been getting patients with complaints of severe dehydration (which is worsening conditions such as urinary tract infection and pneumonia) and lack of concentration and appetite.

The doctors are attributing the problems to prolonged exposure to extreme heat that has been tormenting the city for days.

For a fortnight, Calcutta’s maximum temperature has mostly remained 40 degrees Celsius or more. Only on a few occasions did the maximum drop below 40.

Many people, especially those who are elderly, coped with the extreme heat initially, but the prolonged spell has started impacting them, the doctors said.

“Elderly people with medical conditions like chronic kidney or liver disease are on fluid restrictions and diuretics. However, dehydration caused by the prolonged heat spell is forcing them to consume more fluid than advised by the doctor,” said Chandramouli
Bhattacharya, infectious disease specialist at Peerless Hospital.

“This results in excess fluid accumulation in their bodies. We have had patients recently who are complaining of breathing difficulty and even suffering from heart failure because of excess fluid accumulation.”

Bhattacharya said the diuretics doses need to be adjusted for such patients.

Along with this, the heat-induced dehydration is worsening conditions such as urinary tract infection (UTI) and pneumonia.

A woman in her early 70s was recently admitted to hospital with UTI and kidney
injury.

“Dehydration is leading to severe manifestation of such infections. Dehydration aggravated the UTI and caused kidney injury,” Bhattacharya said.

Doctors said the prolonged heat is affecting the daily lives of the people.

“A lot of people, even those who are young, are complaining of general weakness and lethargy. The exposure to heat is also leading to lack of appetite and lack of concentration at workplaces,” said Sauren Panja, head of critical care medicine at Narayana Health-RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences.

“The unusual heat can affect the normal physiological functions of the body, which lead to such problems. And in extreme situations, it can lead to multi-organ dysfunction,” he said.

Metro has reported that elderly people, especially those with medical conditions such as chronic kidney disease or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, are getting admitted to hospital after suffering from acute dehydration. Some of them had even suffered dehydration at home.

The prolonged heat is also causing severe gastrointestinal infections, particularly in those who spend a long time outdoors for work.

“We are getting many patients with gastrointestinal infections. The patients are saying that extreme heat has increased their water intake and circumstances are often forcing them to drink water whose quality they are not sure of. The water they carry from home is being used up faster than usual,” said Amitabha Saha, head of critical care medicine at AMRI Hospitals, Mukundapur.

“Patients with uncontrolled diabetes, too, are getting severely dehydrated. They are turning up at the Emergency ward with high blood sugar and low sodium count,” said Saha.