With the arrival of the winters, during the months of September and October, several cities in North India witness severe air pollution levels. The AQI in Delhi NCR and its surrounding regions reach 500 on some days. Read on as an expert shares how it impacts your body.
India TV Speed News Wellness Conclave: In a conversation with India TV, Dr Gopi Chand Khilnani, President of PSRI Institute of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, shares how harmful air pollution is to our health. He also sheds light on do air purifier really reduce pollution and what everyone should do to prevent air pollution.
With the arrival of the winters, during the month of September and October, several cities in North India witness severe air pollution levels. The AQI in Delhi NCR and its surrounding regions reach 500 on some days. While air pollution severely affects different parts of the body, the lungs is the most affected.
Dr Khilnani says that air pollution impacts our health immensely. It can cause serious lung diseases, including respiratory diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), infectious diseases like pneumonia, heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer. Some other diseases include diabetes, obesity and kidney disease.
Diabetes and obesity, kidney diseases.
It is a usual belief that air purifiers clean the pollution in the house. However, Dr Khilnani does not agree with this idea. He says that there is no great benefit from air purifiers. It is a filter that takes air in and takes out pollution. But it does not stop carbon monoxide.
Despite this, if someone is suffering from a severe lung disease, air purifiers can be beneficial. If you want to get the benefits of air purifiers, it is important that you keep it switched on throughout the day. Also, doors and windows should be closed while using it.
Dr Khilnani says that people who are suffering from asthma or any severe lung disease should definitely use it.
Dr Khilnani also shares a few tips on how you can avoid air pollution and its side effects. Make sure you don’t go for walks early in the morning. you can also use KN =99 or N95 masks. Using these masks can help reduce the impact of air pollution on the body.
Pollutants and smoke tend to stay on your hands, hence, it is important that you wash your hands frequently. Also, keep the doors and windows closed whenever possible. Make sure you avoid any dusty areas and also avoid exercising in any polluted place.
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