India=the Land of the Cough?

PeakXV

I was in Delhi a few years back and there was a symposium on oral/throat cancers at the time. There were Doctors from all over, and had a discussion with some up in the Hotel club lounge. India has the highest rates of these cancers, so I queried them as to why? And the general consensus was that it was all due to the tobacco they mix with their paan/ betel nut concotion and not from the particulate in the air. Although as green house gases and PPM carcinogens increase in the world, major health problems may be just around the corner!

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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

Jacob Ruiz

Yogagal, you can start here http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...+air+pollution with this Google page. I've read several links and it's all frightening. India (Delhi) is always among the top 10 most polluted cities on Earth. If you believe that information is power as I do and you plan to visit India again as you say you do you'd be wise to study up and see what you can do to lessen the effects of toxic air. Fortunately, I live in a place with extremely clean air and water so I can de-tox quickly (I hope) but if you're returning to, say, LA or NYC or London from your trip your job is much harder. Don't accept this pollution problem with a shrug as the price you pay to see a very cool place. Breathing fuel exhaust with lead partcles is no joke.

Wazen

My god.

I cant believe the respitory problems caused by the air pollution in India.

Coming from one of the cleanest, freshest places on earth (hawaiian rainforest) I know already from this thread, that my respitory system will be battered and beaten sick.

..Since im still planning out my trip and places to see, I think this thread convinced me to avoid major citites!!!

...Okay honestly I am scared shitless...
My first real city experience was london. I was coughing up black, and got extremely sick for weeks.

It was the Air pollution that degraded my immune system so badly, that I fell ill within a week. And we are only talking about London!

...This changes my ENTIRE plan thus far...

...I am Arriving in Delhi on Jan 13th and was planning on staying there a week, then traveling Rajasthan for 3 weeks, crossing over to Orrisa, and hanging out in the Nepal/Sikkim/Kolkata/Bangladesh area for a while.....

... Though now, Delhi and Rajasthan, as well as cities across India, dont seem very appealing any more....
Perhaps it is wiser to stay away from the heavily populated areas, and more toward the country side...


... Didnt see this one coming, and it definately just turned my plans up-side-down...

alyosha

It's not so bad once you get used to it. I've been in Mumbai for a couple of weeks solid now, (after Sikkim which was clean+pollution free) and staying very hydrated has made a big difference. I come from Minnesota, where the air is also rather fresh thanks to huge pine forests, and after an initial period of freaking out my respiratory system has returned to normal. Try drinking so much water you constantly pee clear.

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Jacob Ruiz

Wazen, it's not just the big cities. All the smaller ones in Rajasthan have extremely bad air, too. In Bikaner I was sitting at a rooftop restaurant with a lovely view of the fort and the air was burning my eyes and nose. Jodhpur is a large city and the air there is horrible. From the fort you'll look through a brown haze at streets below. I'm not being dramatic here, either. The best I found was in Rishikesh and it was still quite hazy but passable, similar to a large American city. Agra? Fuggedaboutit... So, what to do? We want to go to India but are health conscious so it best to prepare before, during and after. Get acupuncture before...and after..you go to give the lungs and sinuses a boost. I'm finding it quite beneficial in restoring my breathing one month after returning. Take a saline spray, available at any drugstore, with you and use it regularly. Bring a neti pot and use it as well. It's small enough so it won't take up space in your bag. Tumeric was mentioned but I haven't yet tried it but it is available and cheap in India. Start prepping now, Wazen. I think you can minimize this thing. And with all due respect to alyosha don't accept getting "used to it". Be pro-active and pre-emptive with this. I know it sounds like military talk but it's a war for your health, right?

lotus blossom

i'd also advocate getting some pancha-karma or at least, ayurvedic massage. it always rights me when i am feeling off and one of the best things to do after the long journey to india and before going back home.

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camelgirl

Yup, I always get a cold that usually turns into a sinus infection either in India or when I get home. For me it's the combination of the stress of the long, exhausting trip, the time change/jet lag, the dry dusty polluted air and my obvious pre-disposition to sinus problems. Which I must admit started after my first trip to India in 1975. A price I'm willing to pay because I keep going back for more It happens annually at home now. I've got a neti pot but once that infection takes hold and I can't sleep and get a fever , have to take the serious meds. I really wait as long as possible but in the end I'm begging for the dreaded antibiotics!

That bug spray they use on the planes is horrible but another burden to bear to get to Ma India!

passingby

oh yes,
getting a cold in India is very easy. I have a cold now just from the 5 days I spent here. but Delhi was very cold at this time of the year and we stayed in one room where the windows did not close properly.
the dust and the pollution in india makes me cough all the time. this time I got prepared with lots of medication against the colds and coughing, so my cold is almost gone now and my cough, but so is my medication..
anyhow, for colds, the best thing you get in India is Vicks.
if you get a cold in INdia, go to the pharmacy and get Vicks. only 30 rupees and it works very good.

Nick-H

I had my first Indian cold last week. I've had Indian flu before earlier in the year, but this was the first cold. Yes, there is a chest 'left over'.

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Wazen

Cant help to notice,
it was mentioned more than once,
how some people have long-term respotiry problems after visiting India..

Especially Camelgirls last post:

"Which I must admit started after my first trip to India in 1975. A price I'm willing to pay because I keep going back for more. It happens annually at home now"

So I wonder...
In india envormental protocol is still developing, as is the country itself.
Many pollutants and chemcials that are banned here in the west,
and acceptable amounts leached into the Indian enviroment,
would cause the EPA to have a heart attack..

Could it be that India's sub-par enviromental standards,
lack of public awareness in reguards to health and safety aspects of pollution,
and lack of regulation of these chemcials and pollutants,
is causing unseen, long-term, and very serious health problems for the western traveler,
who unlike your native Indian,
is not used to the high levels of acceptable pollutants???

Could this be why a few people here on IndiaMike,
claim to have long-term problems starting AFTER thier trip to India??

Think about the pesticides, chemicals, etc, used here in the United States during the 60's and 70's,
and how many of these are now considerd harmful and have since been banned.
Yet the consequences remain hidden for decades, and public health problems only beggining to surface are soon dismissed as "well, we didnt know any better back then, oh well"...

Can you not help to think,
perhaps India's pollution is WAY more a concern to the western traveler,
than we can ever imagine?

(edit: this post is merely for the sake of discussion, and reguardless, I am still going to India for 3 months! So please dont get me wrong here )

Nick-H

Yes, Wazen, you are probably right, but not just for the visitors --- I'm sure that the health of the born-Indians suffers too

Sama

in my case, using the neti pot only helped my congestion temporarily, it did not solve the problem, which is a two month old sinus infection.

the suggestion about acupuncture is interesting insofar as working the respiratory meridians before I go back in March....

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camelgirl

Lots to think about Wazan. I try NOT to think about it though Then I look at my very elderly relatives (in their 90s with quite good health) and think: they lived through the 1918 flu, ddt, no antibiotics, no bottled water, they all eat meat and not many vegetables, no childhood vaccines....what am I so worried about

Well, of course, this is a very select group who obviously have developed fabulous immunities, just by living this long. And now they're killing their younger relatives with the stress of taking care of them -- ok, I'm biased, and cranky it's one of the reasons why I can't get back to India yet

Anyway, indoor & outdoor pollution is a huge problem in all developing countries. As visitors we still don't face the kind of longterm respiratory issues the local people face. EXCEPT FOR NICK NOW THAT HE'S A LOCAL Take care of yourself Nick....go to the Hill Stations for some fresh air!

PeakXV

My Auntie turned 101 last month and to this day has never eaten a salad.
Not much exercise either, & 1(only) cigarette + 1(only) glass of sherry before dinner each day. She always wanted to travel to India and never made it ......yet!!

lotus blossom

one thing to keep in mind with many of the elderly with (apparent) good health is that they did not grow up in a time where their immune systems were constantly assaulted with what most of us contend with on a daily basis. Their constitutions were much stronger that those of our children. as a species, we are growing ever more vulnerable. The biggest killer of children in the u.s. is cancer, something that was rare 50 years ago. our deeds are catching up with and coming back to haunt us. it's not "better living through chemistry"