Patients unaware of the impact of pollution: Doctors warn

Toxic emergency

If you have been feeling restless, have issues with sleep or have had a heart attack recently, you might have to look no further than pollution to blame.

Doctors warn that symptoms such as difficulty in breathing or skin irritation as a result of inhalation of bad air or contact with polluted water could show secondary complications and sometimes even fatalities.

“Patients come to us with sleep issues. They also have inflammation and higher chances of diabetes. Although it may appear to be asthma and many patients even begin treatment, only later they realise that the problem lies elsewhere,” said Dr Nagaraja C, director of the government-run Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD).

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RGICD, the only dedicated institute in the state for treating respiratory issues, sees almost 250 patients daily. A sizeable chunk of these patients suffers from tuberculosis. Of the remaining patients, at least 60 % have been coming to them with conditions that arise due to continuous exposure to air pollution, according to Dr Nagaraja.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is among the most common outcomes of the exposure.

“Even doctors mistake this to be asthma and keep treating patients, but to no effect. They come to us in such severe conditions that they are required to be put on steroids,” he said.

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Of late, particularly in the last two months, Dr Nagaraja has noticed a significant uptick in the number of cases requiring admissions.

“The air pollution in Bengaluru due to burning of garbage, vehicular emission, dust or industries, when combined with dropping temperatures and the current weather conditions, worsens the condition of patients, leaving them short-breathed, hence needing hospitalisation,” he explained.

Besides respiratory issues affecting lungs, doctors in the city have also studied cardiovascular issues due to air pollution as a recent study by the Jayadeva Institute of Cardio-Vascular Sciences and Research found a link between exposure to air pollution and heart attacks.

The study suggests that exposure to high levels of PM 2.5 was leading to increased viscosity of the blood, resulting in cardiovascular diseases among the young.

Dr Rahul Patil, a cardiologist at Jayadeva, said that in the past two years, they had seen over 2,200 cases of heart attacks among those aged below 40.

Moreover, air pollution can also cause a host of minor issues often thought of as 'unrelated'. For instance, doctors suggest that children could have irritability and sleeplessness due to pollution.

“Apart from eczema, other inflammatory conditions like psoriasis or acne can get worse. Skin allergies can increase among children prone to allergies; the problem can be quite severe like worsening of atopic dermatitis or increased sensitivity to UV radiation. Sunburn, polymorphic light eruptions are also on the rise,” Dr B Leelavathy, president, Bangalore Dermatological Society, explained.

Other dermatological issues like skin pigmentation disorders, premature ageing of the skin, wrinkles and skin cancers are also linked to air pollution, she says. Hairfall is another condition that residents in Bengaluru approach doctors for.

“Increased dryness of hair and dandruff can be due to air pollution. Hard water damages the hair by causing dull, lusterless hair, breakage, split hairs, diffused thinning of hair and alopecia. Water pollution can exacerbate inflammatory conditions of scalp like seborrheic dermatitis, folliculitis of scalp, psoriasis and worsen infections like pyodermas of both skin and scalp,” she said, adding that Bengaluru is also the capital of allergies.