Delhi’s polluted air seems to be hitting the city where it hurts the most — by sending more and more youth from the working population to the doctors’ office.
Comprehensive look
A comprehensive look at diseases and trends across the country has shown that young Delhiites are the worst hit, reporting maximum doctor visits for air pollution-related diseases.
This, as per the results released by healthcare platform Practo as part of the second edition of its ‘Annual Healthcare Map of India,’ which highlights some of the key consumer health concerns.
The report is based on healthcare appointments booked across 35 cities, with focus on top seven cities, including Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad across nearly 200 medical specialities.
Alarming increase
The report is entirely based on actual patient actions (booking appointments) rather than surveys. The report noted that air pollution-related diseases were growing at an alarming rate across India, with visits to pulmonologists seeing a 62 per cent growth.
The major spike in appointments was seen across the age group of 25-35 years and the top three cities that saw a growth in appointments for pulmonologists were Delhi (50%) Mumbai (64%) and Bengaluru (80%).
Harmful toxins
“The air quality in many cities is poor due to pollution. Many people have been seeking medical help for various related problems, like breathing difficulties, chest pain, etc. It is probably due to harmful toxins in the atmosphere resulting in acute respiratory infection (ARI), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and interstitial lung diseases (ILD), etc., emerging as major health problems,” said Mahesh P.A., professor, pulmonary medicine, JSS University, Mysuru.
He added that respiratory diseases are no longer restricted to the elderly. Besides respiratory ailments, spinal cord, cardiac and diabetes-related problems are also making the Capital sick.
“The city reported a 24 per cent rise in cardiologist appointments, 23 per cent rise in diabetologist appointments and 27 per cent rise in gastroenterologist appointments,” noted the survey.
Rapid urbanisation
The survey noted that rapid urbanisation and fast-paced socio-economic development was contributing to rising incidence of cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases (such as COPD and asthma), diabetes, hypertension, etc.
Additional issues
Additionally, poor dietary habits, physical inactivity, smoking and stress are some of the major contributors to the development and progression of preventable chronic diseases.
Worryingly, the survey noted, that young India is not young at heart.
“There has been a 40 per cent growth in cardiologist appointments, with hypertension as the most common symptom. Most appointments booked by people in the age group of 25-35 years.”
Also registering an “on the rise” is abdominal discomfort or pain, indigestion, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting, especially in the age group of 25-34 years. This ailment showed maximum rise in Mumbai (26%), Delhi (27%) and Hyderabad (24).
