Smoke genie of old Calcutta
Charcoal, dung, wood etc., used as fuels before the mid-19th century were responsible for the problem of smoke, or miasma.
Besides leading a sedentary lifestyle and eating junk food regularly, acute smoking and air pollution also triggers cardiovascular diseases, starting from heart attack, cardiac arrhythmia, hypertension to stroke. National and international experts in cardiology while expressing serious concern in a four-day long scientific seminar organized by the Cardiological Society of India (CSI) in the city on Wednesday said that air loaded with pollutants also causes heart diseases.
Experts like Dr Dhiman Kahali, Dr John Greenwood, president of British Cardiovascular Society, Dr Ramesh Daggubati, associate chief of cardiology of West Virginia University School of Medicine in the US, Dr Mrinal Kanti Das, chairman of the CSI organizing committee and others threw light on how exposure to air pollutions slowly but steadily increases risk of heart diseases. “In many cases, people in young age groups suffer from heart disease though they don’t have any comorbidities.
Their regular exposure to air pollutants loaded with microscopic particulate matter not only causes respiratory problems but also heart ailments.” “Long-term exposure to air pollution causes inflammation and hypertension that is the root cause of many other ailments.
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Polluted air triggers heart diseases,” said Dr Greenwood. “Pregnant women with diabetes and existing heart conditions are also vulnerable to get heart diseases if they are exposed to air pollution regularly,” said Daggubati. Dr Das said that use of AI is also being explored to find out risks of heart diseases besides the existing clinical and investigative procedures like ECG, echocardiogram, holter-monitor etc.
The four-day 75th annual conference of the CSI will be continued till Sunday where experts from across the country and abroad are scheduled to deliver scientific addresses focusing on different aspects of heat disease and treatment.
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