Taking long flights frequently can lead to pulmonary embolism, and obesity is to blame for sleep apnoea that can prove fatal.
Pulmonary Embolism and sleep apnoea are among a host of other health conditions that doctors have identified as emerging new lifestyle diseases, though the ‘culprit lifestyle’ is not ‘unhealthy’ in every case.
*Terje Uusen, 42, an Estonian citizen recently died in Ahmedabad after she complained of severe chest pain and breathlessness, while she was on board Goa – Delhi flight by Spice Jet. After an emergency landing, Uusen was admitted to Apollo Hospital in non-responsive condition. Doctors declared her brought dead noting that she was found to have no sign of respiration and no heart heat beat and bluish discoloration. She may have died of pulmonary embolism.
*Ramesh Shah, while driving on high way was about to ram his car into the truck, as he lost his control over the steering wheel due to a sudden nap. Shah, was saved, as the alert companion sitting next to him suddenly noticed the situation and controlled the wheel avoiding a fatal accidient. Shah often gets unavoidable short naps and after sleeping for whole night still complains of tiredness in morning as he wakes up. He suffers from sleep apnoea.
Pulmonary Embolism and sleep apnoea are among a host of other health conditions that doctors have identified as emerging new lifestyle diseases, though the culprit lifestyle is not unhealthy in every case. For example, take a case of Uusen, the bluish discolouration of skin detected on her is a symptom of pulmonary embolism, a dangerous condition that is found to affect flyers who frequently take long flights (more than 12 hours long). It also occurs in professionals at call centres who have to keep odd hours. “In people making long journeys by air, blood clots sometimes form in legs as they have been seated for many hours maintaining a stiff posture. The clot travels up the blood stream and blocks the pulmonary artery,” Dr. Narendra Raval, president, Association of Chest Physician of Gujarat, “and when the clot gets struck in pulmonary artery, the person develops severe chest pain, restlessness, sudden bluish discoloration and breathlessness. In such condition if the doctor take ECG it can also appear normal. This disorder can only be detected by pulmonary angiography.” There are special Doppler test now available which can be taken to scan the clots if developed in veins of legs.
As for Shah’s Sleep Apnoea, it is a condition linked to obesity. The main symptom of this disease is the patient tendency to fall asleep involuntarily for short period during the day and complain of tiredness even after sleeping the whole night. Dr. Nitesh Shah, pulmonologist, said, “Sleep Apnoea is having obstruction in wind pipe, a condition commonly found in obese or short-necked person. Due to obstruction near or around wind pipe, the gap between two breaths is elongated to more than 7 seconds and about 20 to 50 such gaps occur in an hour while the person is asleep. At times, the breathing is obstructed in sleep to the extent that the person develops a sleep disorder which at times turns fatal as the obstruction blocks normal respiration.” This disease can be now diagnosed correctly with the use of new investigative methods including bronchoscopy, spirometri and if the obstruction is severe it can be surgically removed.
To discuss such newly discovered faulty lifestyle induced diseases, its symptoms, its new investigative and diagnostic methods, which were till now not available in the state, Association of Chest Physicians of Gujarat have organised a two-day conference on June 18 and 19 in city which is to attended by more than 500 doctors.
