Jamshedpur, Dec. 29: Hospitals in the steel city are witnessing a rush of patients with severe congestion of respiratory track, aggravated blood pressure, angina and brainstroke due to the dip in temperature.

According to sources in hospitals and nursing homes, there has been over 10 cases of respiratory problems and an equal number of patients complaining of chest pain due to the severe cold spell. They said most of the patients that they have received were suffering from chronic respiratory and heart problems.

Tata Main Hospital (TMH) emergency wing in-charge Prabhat Kumar said the fall in temperature during winter results in a dense fog in the morning. This leads to an increase in density of allergens such as pollen, smoke, cotton dust, house dust and dew drops in the air, which are a major cause of respiratory problems such as congestion of nose, bronchitis and asthma, he said.

He added that cases of pneumonia in children due to exposure during the cold wave was also common.

Kumar said people with chronic asthma should avoid venturing out when there is a fog. He added that if due to unavoidable reasons they have to go out they should cover their mouth and nose properly to prevent allergens from entering their respiratory track.

“If a patient is on regular medication he or she should not regulate the medicine on his own. Once they see little improvement in the condition they reduce the prescribed dose, which is one of the major reasons why people with chronic respiratory problem land up in hospitals in winter,” he said.

Talking to The Telegraph he said, due to chill in the air friendly pathogens in the body mainly present in the throat region also become harmful.

This is one of the common reasons for large number of people with sore throat. According to doctors, during winter blood vessels become constricted, resulting in high blood pressure, heart attack and brain stroke.

Due to severe the cold wave, the number of patients, especially those with chronic heart problems, has also increased.

“The number of patients with minor heart attack, failure of heart valves and brain stroke due to aggravated blood pressure, has gone up in the last few days,” they said.

“A large number of patients who have undergone heart surgery have also visited them with complaints of chest pain and uneasiness.” A staff at Steel City Nursing Home and Veena Pani Nursing Home said, in the past one week they have mainly received cases of respiratory problem among children and senior people.

“People with serious heart problems are referred to some big institution where they can receive proper care,” he said.

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