While summers in north India normally build gradually, allowing the human body to adjust over weeks, the transition to extreme heat has been abrupt this year, leaving little room for biological adaptation and putting people at higher risk of heat-related illnesses, warned experts. Heat arrives too soon, increasing risk of heatstroke and dehydration (Representative/Freepik) “High temperatures arriving earlier than usual put a strain on the body’s ability to acclimatise to hot weather, a phenomenon called seasonal or heat acclimatisation,” said Dr Mugdha Tapdiya, director of internal medicine at Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj. Under normal conditions, repeated exposure to heat over days or weeks triggers a series of physical responses: the body begins to sweat earlier and more efficiently, heart rate under heat stress reduces, and the system becomes better at maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance. This physiological adaptation, referred to as heat acclimatisation, typically takes about one to two weeks of progressive exposure. Also Read | EVM ‘glitches’, TMC ‘goons’ and a dare for PM Modi: A look at West Bengal’s phase-2 voting “However, a …