Cardiac health hazards of dense fog and harsh winters-innocuous and unanticipated: Dr Sushil

STATE TIMES NEWS

JAMMU: In view of drastic climatic changes every year with winters and fog more in severity as compared to previous ones, and increased rates of hospitalisations due to cardiovascular diseases Head Department of Cardiology GMCH Jammu Dr Sushil Sharma held a day long Cardiac awareness cum health Check up Camp at Shri Vishwakarma Mandir, New Plot Jammu with special focus on educating people to prevent themselves from the ill effects of harsh winters alongwith dense fog so that morbidity and mortality is minimised.
While interacting with the people, Dr. Sushil Sharma stated Air pollution is a heterogeneous, complex mixture of gases, liquids, and particulate matter.
Epidemiological studies have demonstrated a consistent increased risk for cardiovascular events in relation to both short- and long-term exposure to present-day concentrations of ambient particulate matter.
Several plausible mechanistic pathways have been described, including enhanced coagulation/thrombosis, a propensity for arrhythmias, acute arterial vasoconstriction, systemic inflammatory responses, and the chronic promotion of atherosclerosis.
As winter intensifies, fogs descend on most of northern India and parts of eastern India. Fogs cause the cold to penetrate through the layers of warm clothing, adding to your distress. Early morning humidity caused by winter fogs puts patients with any kind of cardiovascular disease at risk.
Elderly people, in particular whose circulation has become sluggish due to age, are at great risk of developing cardiac distress on foggy mornings. Lower temperatures can cause blood vessels to narrow.
This means that heart must work harder to move blood throughout the body. Since fog steals body warmth, it causes heart rate and blood pressure to increase as the heart works harder to do its work, Dr. Sushil said.
He elaborated that air pollution has adverse effects on health, particularly cardiovascular and respiratory system . It can precipitate acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, arrhythmia and even cardiac arrest. Air pollution with particulate matter (both fine and coarse) has been correlated to both CVS and total mortality.
While intervention at societal level is most effective some personal steps can be taken to reduce its risk. Tips to reduce health risk in individuals exposed to air pollution such as During high pollution days stay indoors, avoid physical exertion in an outdoor activity located near the source of pollution, Reduce outdoor air permeation to inside, Purifying indoor air using air filters, Take food which is rich in sulphorane based antioxidants like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, Fish oil supplementation and use of respirators , face mask, Dr. Sushil said.
He added that Exposure to air pollution is the largest environmental health risk and ranks ninth among modifiable disease risk factors, above other common factors such as low physical activity, high cholesterol, and drug use. Most of the excess deaths attributable to air pollution exposure are due to acute ischemic/thrombotic cardiovascular events.
In addition to excess mortality, air pollution is associated with significant reductions in healthy life years and worker productivity, he said.
Management Committee of The Shri Vishwakarma Mandir Joginder Angotra, Balwant Kataria ,Ramesh Angotra ,Raman Chalotra , Mohinder Lal and Omkar Singh Appreciated the efforts of Dr Sushil and his team for conducting cardiac awareness cum Health Check up camp in their area.
Others who were part of this Camp includes Dr Venkatesh Yellapu and Dr Dhaneshwer Kapoor. Paramedics and volunteers includes Raghav Rajput, Rajinder Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Gourav Sharma, Jatin Bhasin, Amnish Datta, Paramveer Singh, Arun Singh and Nirvair Singh Bali.