Frequent weather changes affecting patients suffering from asthma, allergy

The frequent weather changes in the last few days in the city have taken a toll on patients suffering from asthma and allergy conditions, even as healthcare experts say that this is likely to continue till the end on monsoon.

The recent bouts of rains alternated with spells of hot days have affected a large number of patients suffering from respiratory disorders.

According to Dr Agam Vora, chest physician from the Advanced Multi speciality Hospital, Juhu, as a result of the rainfall the humidity levels in the air has increased and this is getting mixed with the pollutants that are already present. And this is the reason that asthma attacks get triggered off in the patients during this period.

“These patients already have very sensitive airways and the presence of pollutants in the air tends to trigger spasms in them and leads to complications,” he said.

Even the presence of fungus in the air has the same effect and affects patients suffering from asthma and different kinds of allergies, he pointed out. These can be allergies of the eyes, nose, lungs and even the skin.

In such a scenario, it becomes important that the patients receive the right treatment at the right time so that their condition does not go out of control, Dr Vora said. “In fact, if the patient does not get medical attention at the right time, it can even prove fatal in some cases,” he added. It has also been noted that it is the children and the elderly who are specially vulnerable to these kinds of problems during this season.

Medical sources said that almost all asthma and allergy patients generally go through this problem when the weather becomes erratic. “Only those patients who are able to self manage their problems are the one who are saved from these problems,” another doctor said. It is expected that these patients are likely to suffer from these conditions till the monsoon continues in the city.

According to Manish Shah, an allergy patient, he has been suffering from acute cold and congestion since the last two weeks and it has been highly traumatic for him. “I had severe sinusitis and have been managing with medicines for all this period,” he said. In fact, sometimes the congestion and headaches become so severe that he has no option but to miss office for a few days on some occasions, he added.

As a recent measure, some patients have some using air purifiers and even de humidifiers since they help to reduce pollution in the vicinity. “People tend to keep their doors and windows shut during monsoon and the result is that the indoors pollution just keep going around inside the house,” he said.

This can be avoided by having some cross ventilation and having some of these gadgets that can help these patients to get over this period of erratic weather, he said.