As the COVID caseload continues to rise in the nation – at present at more than 3 lakh new circumstances a day for more than a week now – the significance of physical distancing guidelines and following security protocols can hardly be ignored. To verify the virus from circulating unchecked some cities have resorted to lockdowns. But then, in an atmosphere of heightened dangers of exposure to the virus, what do patients who have comorbidities require to do to keep secure? Especially these with more than one underlying wellness situation and difficult to ignore ones like diabetes, heart circumstances, and cancer. While vaccination is the only defence accessible it does not assure immunity from the virus and one wants to nonetheless keep cautious. The comorbidity circumstances that most appear concerned about fall in the category of NCDs (non-communicable ailments). These are a quite significant segment of healthcare as in the Indian context, healthcare providers estimate that generally 60 % of all deaths are due to NCDs, and thus this segment of the population wants to take care and ought to not ignore their circumstances.
TheSpuzz Online spoke to leaders in every single of the illness segments. One element that was widespread to all was a plea not to ignore any worsening of the symptoms and the availability now of the specialists via a teleconsultation.
Why sugar levels matter even more now
Diabetes is a chronic ailment and has to be managed lifelong and if effectively monitored then apparently there is nothing at all to be concerned about, but then connect with the medical professional and frequent checkups are important.
“Starting April, the footfalls of diabetic patients has come down significantly and tends to range between 20 and 30 percent of what used to be the case normally,” says Dr V Mohan, founder chairman and consultant diabetologist, Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre, a chain of diabetes care centres across the nation.
He says it is with superior explanation as people today, pretty rightly require to make sure they are not exposed to viruses when moving out of their houses. But then, he says, “while the focus today has to be on COVID and checking its transmission but at the same time, people should not neglect chronic ailments like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease or cancer.” Those who are diabetic, he says, ought to verify their sugar levels either on their personal or get the service delivered at home and subsequently tele-seek the advice of with the specialist. This is mainly because these are the quite people today who require to take intense care as they could be at a higher danger than other folks with COVID and ought to also be vaccinated at the earliest.
The important message, he says, is diabetic patients require to raise their testing at home and raise the frequency of glucose monitoring apart from taking care to make sure they do not cease taking medicines. “Even if they have COVID, if the symptoms are mild and the diabetes is well controlled then I have seen hundreds of my patients stay at home and recover completely,” says Dr Mohan. However, he also cautions: “If the oxygen saturation drops and if you are diabetic then you need to rush to the hospital as some may need ICU support. In any case, in a hospital setting mostly for diabetic patients insulin is administered as some may have to be on steroid therapy and these typically are known to boost the sugar levels significantly.”
Virus impact on heart
Dr Naresh Trehan, chairman and managing director, Medanta and a top cardiothoracic surgeon, says, “The main thing is the virus can affect the heart also and if people feel any change in the symptoms then they should contact their cardiologist right away and what may be needed to be done is a cardiogram to see if there are any changes.” He says, what is also assisting now is that “we have now the means to record these remotely.” He says, his hospital offers its cardiac patients a device with sensors constructed into it that they can take home for remote monitoring of the heart. This, he says, was began about two months ago. While some might have taken to it, there is no denying that footfalls even in cardiac care have declined. Dr. Trehan says it is today down to about 30 – 35 per cent of what used to be frequent inflow at his hospital in Delhi.
Remote monitoring of cardiac patients is an choice several appear to be inclined to. Several top cardiologists at least have been making use of devices that assistance monitor patients more often and remotely. For instance, in some circumstances medical doctors ask for genuine-time continuous monitoring of the cardiac rhythm making use of ambulatory ECG monitoring devices referred to as either Holter monitors or loop recorders.
Why cancer wants urgent care
In cancer therapy, patients require to get themselves treated in the hospital and ought to not ignore it, as it is a situation that if not checked, might escalate. Dr B S Ajai Kumar, executive chairman, HealthCare Global Enterprises, a top chain of 25 cancer care hospitals in the nation, says, “we are alerting people on the need to attend to their ailments through messages on social media apart from offering them follow ups through teleconsultations. However, for surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation they need to be in the hospital, where we have taken care to ensure all healthcare workers have been vaccinated.”
He says, the patients appear to be realizing this and several are attending to it although he does see about 10 per cent decline in the general footfalls.
Taking Child Immunization Seriously
One segment of the population that just can not be ignored is that of newborns and infants. With a worry of hospitals and physical distancing, there is usually a danger of kid immunization taking a backseat. Dr. Ramesh Kancharla, chairman and managing director of Rainbow Hospitals, a chain of 15 children’s hospitals in the nation and headquartered out of Hyderabad, says, “Across all our facilities (including cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi) we are today doing vaccination for infants all the time. We have been sending out messages to all people not to miss the most crucial basic vaccinations that newborns need. We were doing vaccinations also at home which in the past two weeks we have stopped as a matter of abundant precaution but since a children’s hospital is not a COVID hospital, we encourage people to get the vaccinations done at the hospital.”
For this, he says, “we have opened special vaccination clinics in each of our facilities and segregated it from other operations and these are kept open early in the morning before other people come to the hospitals.”
Describing a standard schedule, he says, “BCG – Bacille Calmette-Guerin – (vaccine to build the immune system against tuberculosis) is given at childbirth and therefore everybody gets it. Thereafter, it is the turn of polio drops, hepatitis B and DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis or whooping cough and Tetanus) and MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella). The primary immunization (polio, BCG and DPT and HiB) has to happen within the first three months of the newborn and the complete immunization (including MMR) has to be administered within one year.” This, he cautions, “cannot be ignored, at any cost as you then run the risk of seeing a surge in communicable diseases and serious threat to life, he says.”
The apparent underlying message across all is that though the onslaught of COVID might be hurting and there is a require for intense care to verify its transmission, there are some places of healthcare that also require consideration and can not wait.