The hardship of summer

　　There are approximately two causes for the hardship of summer

　　1. The first factor is the constitution, as the gastrointestinal digestion and absorption function is relatively weak. If dietary habits are not regulated, or if there is overeating or under-eating, or a preference for cold foods, it can damage the intestines and stomach, weaken the body's resistance, and make it easy to suffer from the hardship of summer.

　　2. The second factor is climatic, as the summer is hot with high humidity in the air. The summer damp-heat evil invades the body when the body is vulnerable. People spend the day under the scorching sun and sleep outdoors at night, or use fans and air conditioners excessively, leading to disease due to the cold arising from summer heat.

　　Abdominal pain, poor digestion, vomiting blood, and black stools. Symptoms often recur without regularity, with abdominal pain that often occurs during or after meals, mostly located in the upper abdomen and umbilical area, with some children experiencing pain in varying locations. Mild cases may present with intermittent hidden pain or dull pushing, while severe cases may be characterized by severe colic pain. These symptoms are often accompanied by loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and bloating, which continue to affect nutritional status and growth and development. In cases where the gastric mucosa is eroded and bleeding, vomiting blood and black stools may occur.

　　The appetite decreases, there is no desire for food, accompanied by low fever (37℃--37.4℃), weakness, fatigue, lack of vitality, low work efficiency, and weight loss. Irritability, fatigue, dizziness, and chest tightness are what traditional Chinese medicine refers to as 'summer injury of Qi', while the folk say it is 'the hardship of summer'. Summer is not a disease; it is caused by climatic factors such as high temperatures and high humidity, leading to dysfunction of the central nervous system responsible for body temperature regulation. This results in a disorder of heat production and dissipation, thus causing functional low fever. With the hot summer climate, excessive sweating leads to the loss of a lot of water and salt, causing an imbalance of electrolytes in the body, and symptoms such as general weakness and fatigue. Manifesting in the gastrointestinal tract, people may feel loss of appetite, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, or a combination of both, followed by symptoms of neurasthenia such as lassitude, palpitations, sweating, and insomnia with frequent dreams.

　　1, To completely get rid of 'summer heat', while enduring the bitterness, it is also necessary to strengthen self-regulation and health care in other aspects, such as drinking more water and congee, eating more fresh vegetables and fruits, promoting metabolism, and enhancing physique.

　　2, Control meat, cold food, sweets, carbonated drinks, etc., to avoid increasing the burden on the gastrointestinal tract.

　　3, Pay attention to the regularity of summer work and rest, and pay attention to sleep care.

　　4, Limit the time of air conditioning and pay attention to ventilation and air exchange in the living room.

　　5, Pay attention to self-psychological adjustment to prevent 'emotional heatstroke'.

　　6, Persist in exercise and maintain a strong physique.

　　One, Gastroscopy and biopsy

　　It is currently the most commonly used and accurate examination method, which can directly observe various lesions in the esophagus, stomach, and upper duodenum, and even detect early minor lesions. It can take living tissue for pathological examination to further clarify the diagnosis. Moreover, it can also conduct further examinations such as ultrasonic gastroscopy, chromoendoscopy, and magnifying endoscopy based on the findings under gastroscopy.

　　Two, X-ray examination

　　1, X-ray barium meal examination shows no abnormalities in most chronic gastritis, but the 'cavity shadow' observed during the barium meal examination is a direct sign of peptic ulcer and has great diagnostic value; barium meal filling defect is also helpful in diagnosing gastric tumors. However, the nature of the 'cavity shadow' and 'filling defect' under barium meal (whether benign or malignant) is sometimes difficult to determine and requires the assistance of gastroscopy for pathological diagnosis. However, in the diagnosis of diseases such as gastric mucosal prolapse, diverticula, and gastric malformation, barium meal is more superior to gastroscopy.

　　2, Abdominal upright radiography has certain diagnostic value for gastrointestinal perforation, obstruction, and calculi.

　　3, X-ray computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can further clarify the condition of solid organs and space-occupying lesions.

　　Three, 14C-urea breath test for Helicobacter pylori

　　Helicobacter pylori is the main cause of peptic ulcer, chronic gastritis, and gastric mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. It is closely related to gastric cancer, and therefore, Helicobacter pylori infection is highly valued by the medical community and patients.

　　Four, Common laboratory tests include

　　Blood, urine, stool routine tests, occult blood test in stool, parasitology, microbiological examination, liver function, autoantigen or (and) antibody, carcinoembryonic antigen, gastrin, somatostatin, etc. are measured.

　　Five, Measure body temperature

　　Observe the temperature curve chart, the body temperature is persistently low fever.

　　1, Watermelon: It clears heat and detoxifies, relieves thirst, and can promote diuresis and aid digestion.

　　2, Kelp: On the surface, there is a layer of white powder with a slight sweetness, which is mannitol with high medical value. It has a good diuretic effect and can treat food poisoning.

　　3, Luffa: Sweet in taste and cool in nature, it has the effects of clearing heat and benefiting the intestines, cooling blood and detoxifying, activating the collaterals and regulating the channels, relieving summer heat, quenching thirst, and removing wind-phlegm. It is a fine health food for summer.

　　4, Bitter Melon: It clears summer heat, relieves fever, and detoxifies the eyes. Bitter melon is rich in vitamins.

　　5. Cucumber: sweet and cold, clearing heat and promoting urination. Cucumbers contain more than 90% water, making them the highest in water content among vegetables.

　　6. Foods with cooling properties include strawberries, soybeans, mung beans, shepherd's purse, winter melon, celery, chrysanthemum, lotus stem, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, broad beans, adzuki beans, green fish, crucian carp, silver carp, etc.

　　1. Psychology: calm the mind and avoid being irritable

　　In the peak of summer, people's psychology may also 'heatstroke', the main symptoms are: irritability, easy to be angry, like to be irritable, disordered thinking, abnormal behavior, lack of interest in things. Many people often have disputes with others over trivial matters.

　　According to statistics, about 16% of the normal population will experience 'emotional heatstroke' in summer, especially when the temperature exceeds 35 degrees Celsius, the日照时间 exceeds 12 hours, and the humidity is higher than 80%. The proportion of 'emotional heatstroke' will rise sharply. Therefore, to prevent the 'bad summer', psychological adjustment is also very important. As the saying goes, 'Calm mind naturally cool', one must learn to 'calm the mind, calm the nerves,戒躁,息怒' in hot weather. When faced with unpleasant things, one should learn to transfer emotions and carry out 'cold treatment'. Reading more books that are enjoyable can bring joy to life and relieve bitterness. It helps to relax the tense nerves in a humorous situation, playing a role of self-comfort, and happily getting through the hot summer.

　　2. Sleep: Take a nap during the day

　　In summer, the days are long and the nights are short, and due to the dry heat, it may affect people's normal sleep to some extent. However, it is still necessary to try to maintain the body's biological clock rhythm and develop the habit of going to bed and waking up at regular times. The best time to go to bed in summer is 22:00-23:00, and the best time to wake up is 5:30-6:30. Keeping the biological clock on track allows various physiological rhythms of the body to run smoothly. The reduction in sleep time at night can be supplemented by a nap. A short nap can help improve work efficiency in the afternoon. In addition, researchers have also found that appropriate naps can balance hormone secretion in the body and reduce the occurrence of diseases such as myocardial infarction. It should be noted that it is not advisable to sleep sitting or hunched over, nor is it advisable to sleep in the breeze, in the draft or next to an air conditioner, to avoid catching a cold. In hot weather, the pores of the skin are dilated, and evil qi can easily enter the body through the pores, making it easy to catch a cold. Ensuring the quality of sleep is very important for alleviating the symptoms of 'bad summer'.