Tips on staying healthy this Australian summer: preparing for heatwaves and thunderstorm asthma

Even before the Australian summer begins this year, most capital cities have been scorched by heatwaves, and thunderstorm asthma warnings have been issued.

Dr Sandeep Bhagat, with a patient

Dr Sandeep Bhagat, with a patient Source: Supplied

Weather experts tell us that 150 year old records have been broken in Melbourne, since we've had 7 consecutive days of temperatures hovering above 28 degrees. Much the same can be said for cities like Hobart, Perth and Darwin, with Adelaide just getting relief, after many hot days. All this, even before summer actually begins in Australia!

To get a medical expert's opinion on the best way to prepare for the upcoming summer and to mitigate the effect of the current heat wave that most Australian cities are facing, we invited Dr Sandeep Bhagat on SBS Punjabi program on Thursday Nove 23, who answered several questions from our listeners during a talkback session. 

The first bit of advice that Dr Bhagat gave our listeners was, "Treat Australia's 30 degrees as you would India's 45 degrees. Take similar precautions when the mercury hits 30 degrees in Australia, as you did when the temperature went past 45 degrees in India - drink plenty of water and avoid going outside during the peak sunlight hours."
"Children and the elderly are most vulnerable - you must take special care of them."
Dr Bhagat also spoke about Thunderstorm asthma warnings, and shared the latest findings related to the deaths caused by thunderstorm asthma in Melbourne last November. He also mentioned the passage of voluntary assisted dying legislation in Victoria's upper house. 

To hear more, click on the link above.

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2 min read
Published 24 November 2017 1:13pm
Updated 24 November 2017 2:32pm
By Manpreet K Singh

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