Air pollution particularly in the Delhi NCR has triggered various health issues in the last couple of years including strokes and heart ailments. And, COVID increases that risk even higher.
The air quality in the national capital plunged into the "poor" category on Sunday. The Central Pollution Control Board's 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) data showed that at 6.05 pm, Delhi's air quality was in the poor category at 232.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe.
Why air pollution can make COVID even more fatal disease?
The contraction of blood arteries during cold weather is one of the main reasons why people have strokes as the contraction raises the blood pressure significantly owing to which the heart works much harder to pump blood around the body.
Dr. Vipul Gupta, Chief - Neuro interventional Surgery & Co-Chief Stroke Unit, Artemis Hospital, Gurugram, says, as quoted by ET, “Another challenge which our population is facing, particularly this year, is the spreading of the deadly COVID pandemic. It is now also known that COVID infection raises the chances of stroke and sometimes it is also witnessed that COVID patients may be present with stroke. Stroke in these patients is again due to the changes in their blood vessels and some of the patients with severe COVID infection have raised chances of clotting as well. The combination of winters with COVID is a potentially deadly combination for the Indian population, which is further made worse in the cities by the rising air pollution and bursting firecrackers during Diwali."
COVID is already known to cause heart ailment and when the air quality is poor, its chances become even higher.
Hence, patients who already have illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, or who are older than 65 are more susceptible to this disease.
