SevenHills starts post-Covid wellness programme

The hospital said that they launched the programme as they still keep seeing patients with complaints of fatigue, lethargy, sudden rise in pulse and sugar, breathlessness, palpitations

Mumbai In the wake of the state government lifting all Covid restrictions, SevenHills Hospital, one of the largest Covid facilities of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has started a post-Covid wellness programme.

Dr Maharudra Kumbhar, the officer on special duty at SevenHills Hospital, said that this programme will help know more about post-Covid and long-Covid problems. (AP)

The hospital said that they launched the programme as they still keep seeing patients with complaints of fatigue, lethargy, sudden rise in pulse and sugar, breathlessness, palpitations and the likes even after recovering from Covid.

Dr Maharudra Kumbhar, the officer on special duty at SevenHills Hospital, said that this programme will help know more about post-Covid and long-Covid problems.

“Till now, our focus was on Covid. In all the three waves, we saw patients with post-Covid complications. It is important for us to understand and treat them at the earliest,” he said.

Dr Kumbhar added that it will also help in the early diagnosis of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, and hypertension. “One of the aims of this programme is to encourage regular health check-ups. It will help them know about their health status and prevent future complications. The diagnostics tests and scans will be 40-50% cheaper than at private centres,” he explained.

The wellness programme also includes post-Covid investigations like diabetic profile, liver, pulmonary, and renal function test, ECG, etc.

The Marol hospital was built on a public-private partnership basis and was shut in 2017 because of huge debt and irreconcilable differences between the BMC and its private partners. During the pandemic, the hospital was transformed into a Covid facility and has seen 47,049 admissions.

Private hospitals too have started post-Covid clinics and have been seeing an increasing number of patients. Fortis Hospital, Mulund, which started its clinic in August 2020, still sees six to 10 patients a week with symptoms like fatigue, brain fog or breathing issues.

Dr Kirti Sabnis, Infectious Disease Specialist, Fortis Hospital Kalyan & Mulund, said, “Post-Covid syndrome is somewhat similar to as it was before in the last two waves. It mainly consists of persistent fatigue, heart-related discomfort, and psychological issues. Other common symptoms include “brain fog,” or difficulties with cognition & memory, pulmonary issues such as shortness of breath, or lingering cough. The overall incidence is around 10%.”

She added that mainly the elderly with comorbid conditions like diabetes, cancer, etc are affected. “There is no magic pill or cure and only multi-level rehabilitation is the key. It is advised not to indulge in a strenuous workout as the body is already under fatigue and such workouts can be counterproductive,” explained Dr Sabnis.

Dr Vimal Pahuja, one of the post-Covid clinic physicians at Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital, Powai, said that while the number of post-Covid cases is less compared to the second wave, they still are seeing 25-30 patients a week in the clinic.