Are you ending up with shortness of breath after a short walk?
Do you often wake up in the morning with a sore throat or congestion?
Are you wondering what caused you the cold despite precautionary measures you took since past few weeks?
It’s that time of the year when everyone eagerly waits for winters to come but also suffers from the perennial problem of sneezing, coughing and allergies.
For some it may be an unusual feature during change of season, however, for others it is just a regular feature spurting the acute problem of respiratory illnesses.
“On a daily basis, we deal with at least 10 patients suffering from a spurt in respiratory illnesses like allergies, nasal discharge with sneezing and wheezing apart from common colds, viral illnesses and dryness,“ claims Dr Amitabh Parti, Unit Head, Internal Med., Fortis Memorial Research Institute. The number of such cases has been increasing by 20% - 40% every year.
This surge in respiratory illness is due to the diurnal change in temperatures between the day and night to which individuals are unable to immediately acclimatize. The settling down of colder and heavier air in the atmosphere that traps the smoke also contributes to the woes.
The weather unfortunately tends to have daily temperature variations delaying recovery in this weather. Moreover, due to change in weather, individuals tend to drink less fluid whereas hydration is the mainstay of restoration electrolytes, improving immunity and shortening convalescence.
According to industry estimates, pollutants in India are more than 1.5 times the standards limit which are very high. “Incidence of respiratory illnesses has increased over the years due to increased level of pollution, loss of green cover and prevalent centralised ducted air-conditioning systems, “adds Dr Parti.
Problem grave in the concrete jungle
Metro cities seem to be the worst affected with respiratory illnesses. The concept of open office where multiple executives share open office space in large halls and people breathing recycled air through centralised ducted air-conditioning systems seems to be worsening the situation, explains Dr Parti. Hence, the person suffering from cough or sneezing shall be actively infecting the healthy population with droplets. Additionally, the number of generators being used both in domestic and commercial establishments due to the growing menace of power scarcity has contributed to an alarming increase of respiratory illness.
So while smog in Delhi aggravates breathing problems, the dry cold weather in Pune aggravates asthma problems. Pollution in Bangalore causes widespread problem of early morning congestion and sharp drop in temperature in other cities intensifies pneumonia and acute bronchitis problem.
So if you want to tackle this menace with aplomb, exercising regularly, staying hydrated, maintaining moisture in the skin and maintaining personal hygiene becomes imperative in this change of season.
