Hard to stomach: Thousands of gastro patients throng to hospitals

Most people consume red meat beyond their capacity during Eidul Azha, says expert

KARACHI: While the residents of Karachi were busy celebrating Eidul Azha, public hospitals remained unusually overcrowded during the three days of festivities.

Around 3,000 patients visited the accident and emergency ward of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) during the first three days of Eid, said JPMC focal person Dr Javed Jamali. They complained of diarrhoea, vomiting and dehydration, he said.

Explaining the reason, Dr Jamali said that most people consume red meat beyond their capacity during the festivities. Patients had consumed red meat twice or thrice a day since the first day of Eid, he remarked. "Our body organs are not used to the excessive meat we consume during Eid." According to Jamali, overconsumption of meat causes a multitude of serious problems, among which gastric issues are of basic nature, but can be stabilised. He further added that it takes two to three hours to stabilise a gastric patient. Talking about the increased inflow of patients, Dr Jamali reasoned that during the holidays, clinics in certain neighbourhoods are closed so patients visit mainstream hospitals, which sometimes causes overcrowding in the emergency wards .



On the other hand, the deputy medical superintendent Civil Hospital, Karachi, Dr Shane Alam, said that their hospital's emergency ward has also received a significant number of gastric patients. However, the number has significantly reduced over the years due to spread of awareness on the issue, he added.

Dr Alam was of the view that the number of gastric patients will increase in the coming days as many people have refrigerated meat and will consume it in the coming days. People should not eat meat more than once a day since it can cause a number of diseases, he said, adding that they should consume vegetables instead.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2016.