City doctors warn that even a slight increase in temperature can affect the health of the elderly, especially those with chronic diseases. With the mercury rising, doctors suggest that those aged above 60 and suffering from chronic ailments should take extra precautions in summer. Responding to a study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, which reveals that an increase in temperature, even as low as one degree, can potentially affect the life expectancy of the elderly suffering from chronic diseases, city doctors pointed out that the study was more relevant to tropical regions like Andhra Pradesh, where the mercury soars to 480C in May.
“Elderly people are naturally at higher risk than the younger ones,” said Dr Aftab Ahmed, expert in internal medicine at Apollo Hospitals, Hyderaad. He explained: “When people are exposed to extreme climatic changes, such results are not surprising, especially in the case of elderly people.” Dr Ahmed stressed: “The old have a metabolism different from youngsters, and hence are more susceptible to climatic changes.”
Dr S. Vijay Mohan, senior physician at Care Hospital, stated: “Temperature regulation in senior people is very slow and not too active. To add to this, they take in a lesser volume of fluids and have a lower fat content, this makes them susceptible to the ultraviolet rays of the sun.” “Elderly people sweat a lot and this causes loss of fluid from the body,” explained Dr V.S. Natarajan, a pioneering expert in geriatrics. He said elderly people do not feel thirsty, which reduces their intake of fluids. Old patients with chronic diseases were more vulnerable to heat and heat-related ailments.
Doctors suggest that elderly people should consume more fluids, stay indoors as much as possible in order to maintain constant temperatures . The US study reveals that mortality levels among the old are higher when the summer temperatures rise to levels higher than normal. It says that the mortality rate could rise by a maximum of 4 per cent, based on the kind of illness the person suffers from and the degree of rise in temperature.