Common comorbidities that increase mortality risk include smoking, diabetes mellitus, GERD, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and anaemia, the researchers said
The study, led by the department of pulmonary medicine at Rajasthan Hospital in Jaipur, tracked nearly 2,900 hospitalisations across summer, monsoon and winter, and analysed 394 deaths. Men made up 64.3% of all hospitalised patients, compared to 35.7% women, and accounted for 69% of all respiratory deaths. Winter accounts for nearly 45% of all RTI-related deaths, the study said.
Interestingly, more lung cancer cases were reported in the monsoon season.
Mumbai: Winter is the deadliest season for lung disease in urban India, accounting for nearly a third of all respiratory hospitalisations and deaths nationwide, according to a recent study published in the journal Lung India. The lead author of the study, Sheetu Singh, said, “While we were looking at urban centres, some of the patients at these hospitals also came from rural parts of the country. Common comorbidities that increase mortality risk included smoking, diabetes mellitus, GERD, hypertension, coronary artery disease and anaemia, the researchers said. Still, researchers said the data “warrants further validation in larger, prospective datasets to determine whether this represents a true seasonal pattern or a chance finding”. Dr Pralhad Prabhudesai, a city-based pulmonologist who contributed case studies to the paper, said doctors have long known that serious cases increase with changes in weather patterns.
For now, we have established a trend, but to conclude the causes, we would need large-scale studies. Researchers have identified key risk factors: biomass fuel exposure, smoking, mould exposure and even exposure to pets or birds at home in cases of interstitial lung disease (ILD). For instance, respiratory tract infections show seasonal shifts; routine clinic visits for minor infections peak during the monsoon, affecting younger people, but snowball into emergencies in winter for the elderly.