Health concerns: ‘Increased air pollution is leading to respiratory problems’

HYDERABAD:

Increased air pollution and dust have raised the number of allergic asthmatic patients in urban Hyderabad, leading to an urgent need to control air pollution, claimed the head of the Department of Pulmonology at the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro, Dr Rashid Ahmed Khan.

He expressed concern over the increase in allergic asthma in Hyderabad during an interview on Monday. Khan cited smoke from vehicles along with dust as the main reasons while also laying blame on substances, such as cigarette smoke, animal dander, mold spores, house dust and feather pillows.

Asthma is characterised by muscle spasms in the walls of the lung’s air passage, which results in shortness of breath even though attacks are rarely fatal, Khan informed. He also talked about bronchial asthma, which is a type of asthma caused by heart failure, leading to a buildup of fluids in the lungs.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2013.