Air Pollution Can Damage Your Lungs Severely: Yoga Asanas And Exercises To Stay Safe

With respiratory issues on the rise, here are some of the yoga asanas and exercises that you may try to include in your daily routine to stay safe.

After COVID-19, India is now in the grip of severe air pollution. Polluted air in Delhi worsened on Friday morning due to unfavourable meteorological conditions comprising of low temperature and slow wind speed. The air quality index read 403 at 9 am, which falls in the severe category. Air pollution not only affects the quality of the air around you but also leads to a spike in respiratory diseases. According to a Lancet report, the contribution of chronic respiratory diseases in India increased from 4.5 per cent in 1990 to 6.4 per cent in 2016. Let's understand these common lung disorders.

Air Pollution Can Damage Your Lungs

With respiratory issues on the rise, here are some of the common lung disorders that you may suffer from:

Bronchial Asthma

This is a chronic health condition that leads to unexplained inflammation in the lungs. The inflammation can further lead to narrowing of the air pathways and excess mucus. Some of the symptoms are wheezing, coughing, and difficulty breathing.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

This is another chronic inflammatory lung condition that can obstruct the airflow to the lungs. The obstruction can lead to certain symptoms such as breathing difficulty, mucus (sputum) production, coughing, and wheezing. According to the experts, COPD patients are at an increased risk of developing severe lung conditions such as lung cancer, heart disease, and a variety of other conditions.

Chronic Bronchitis

This is another variation of severe COPD. In this condition, the lungs' airways are constantly inflamed as chronic bronchitis often lasts for months on end. Some of the warning symptoms of this condition are - incessant coughing, whistling sounds while breathing, wheezing, and a tightening of the chest.

Yoga and Exercise

• Treatment of lung disorders often involves the use of the lungs to promote healthy breathing habits.
• Exercises like cycling, swimming, yoga, etc. that create a need for full capacity breathing are of great importance.
• You may also consider Nasal Irrigation which may provide some relief from symptoms of respiratory allergies.
• Also, consider Acupunture. According to a study published in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, people with allergic rhinitis who were given acupuncture treatments twice a week for eight weeks had fewer symptoms than those administered placebo.
• Exercises that include the diaphragm can also help in dealing with this condition as simple activities can go a long way in the treatment of lung disorders.
• When it comes to Yoga asanas for the lungs, what can be better than Pranayama? This asana includes the action of controlling breathing which acts as an integral part of alternative treatment for people suffering from respiratory issues.

(With inputs from Agencies)