World Health Day: Weak immunity giving you prolonged illness: Docs

With a weak immune system, you’re more likely to get sick, and there will be more complications. An illness that is minor for other people may be serious for you.

LUCKNOW: If you are unable to recover from fever, seasonal cough, or cold within a few days compared to others, it could be due to your weak immune system allowing the illness to persist longer despite receiving the best medication, say doctors.

Whether healthy or ill, immunity must be given focus, both to improve overall performance and to recover fast when ill. (HT File)

“Weak immunity is a challenge faced by many patients visiting our OPD. In many cases, patients complain of no relief despite regular medication. Upon examination, we have found it to be a case of weak immunity, which reduces their body’s resistance against infections,” said Prof. Kauser Usman, senior faculty in the medicine department at King George’s Medical University (KGMU).

“A cough that is generally cured in three to five days is taking up to 10 days in many cases. This is just an example of how weak immunity prolongs illness,” Prof. Usman added.

Similar cases are being reported in different hospitals in the state capital, including Civil, Balrampur, and Lok Bandhu. “Cases of prolonged illness due to poor immunity are mainly being observed among those who have suffered from COVID-19. Such patients respond to medicine after a long time,” said Dr. Ajai Shankar Tripathi, medical superintendent of Lok Bandhu hospital.

With a weak immune system, you’re more likely to get sick, and there will be more complications. An illness that is minor for other people may be serious for you. For example, the common cold can turn into severe pneumonia,” said doctors.

In certain cases, allergic reactions also persist for a long time. “In the current month, patients suffering from prolonged allergic infections are also on the rise. Such patients may suffer from common illnesses for over two weeks,” said Dr. Himanshu Chaturvedi, medical superintendent of Balrampur Hospital.

“Whether healthy or ill, immunity must be given focus, both to improve overall performance and to recover fast when ill,” doctors advised.

{Box with a pic}

Increasing screen time making people ill: Dr Suryakant

LUCKNOW: The direct impact of spending excessive hours glued to mobile, laptop, or TV screens is directly affecting our health. Prolonged screen time is leading to obesity and the rapid spread of various other diseases. “If social media and screen time habits are not improved promptly, the situation can worse. Many people stay up until midnight and sleep until 8 in the morning, with irregular eating patterns and no physical activity,” said Prof. Surya Kant, head of the department of respiratory medicine at KGMU.

“It’s important to do some physical activity every day to reduce stress levels,” he said.

Prof. Surya Kant stated that according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the 10 major diseases in the world are heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lower respiratory infections, neonatal conditions, trachea, bronchus lung cancer, Alzheimer’s and dementia, diarrhoea, diabetes, and kidney disease. Seven of the 10 leading causes of deaths globally in 2019 were non-communicable diseases.

In India, there are about 10 crore cases of hypertension and heart disease, 9 crore respiratory patients, 7 crore diabetes patients, and 7 lakh cancer patients every year. Every fourth TB patient in the world is Indian. According to statistics, India has the highest number of mental health patients, with one in three people suffering from mental illness.