Asthmatics find it difficult to breathe in smog-filled air

Bouts of breathlessness have been waking Rekha Advani (42) at 4 am almost everyday for the past week. For the severely asthmatic Chembur resident, this is a sign that winter has begun.

Bouts of breathlessness have been waking Rekha Advani (42) at 4 am almost everyday for the past week. For the severely asthmatic Chembur resident, this is a sign that winter has begun.

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“I feel completely drained out after the attacks,” said Advani, an administrator in a Bandra nursing home.

Advani is not alone. The dip in temperature coupled with the morning smog has affected many asthma and chronic bronchitis patients.

Healthy individuals are also coming down with viral infections, colds and sore throats.

“I have been treating four to five such cases daily instead of the usual one or two,” said Dr A.G. Ballani, consultant physician at Lilavati Hospital.

The doctor had to get two asthma patients hospitalised in the past week.

Smog carries a high concentration of dust and aerosols, which easily enter the respiratory tract and cause infection.

“Exposure to smog is known to trigger breathlessness,” said Dr Amita Athavle, who heads the Environmental Pollution Research Centre at KEM Hospital in Parel. “Air pollution levels tend to rise with the onset of winter and peak after December,” she added.

Advani has been using the nebuliser (device used to give reliever medicines to patients during an emergency) twice a day.

“My doctor has asked me to keep an oxygen cylinder handy so it can be used in case I get a severe attack and it takes too long to reach the hospital,” she added.