Chennai: Chennai, considered one of the cleanest cities, is witnessing a tremendous increase in air pollution levels triggering a rise in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, according to Dr. P.K. Thomas, consultant respiratory physician.
Quoting a survey by the System of Air quality and Weather Forecasting and Research, which ranks Chennai as the second most polluted metro after Delhi, he said the thrust of the survey was not atmospheric pollution but factors aggravating the COPD.
'The best way to stop COPD is to quit smoking', he added.
The survey says that air pollution in Chennai has given rise to COPD - a non-communicable lung disease progressively robbing sufferers of breath, incidents to 50 per cent.
Recent studies indicate that 25 per cent to 50 per cent of people with clinically significant COPD don’t even know they have it.
That is because the early stages of COPD are often unrecognised.
'Early symptoms of COPD are chronic cough, bringing up sputum, and breathlessness during physical activity such as exercise or walking up a flight of stairs', says Dr Thomas.
