Indoor air pollution from biomass combustion and its adverse health effects in central India: an exposure-response study.

BACKGROUND: Some of the highest exposures to air pollutants in developing countries occur inside homes where biofuels are used for daily cooking. Inhalation of these pollutants may cause deleterious effects on health. OBJECTIVES: To assess the respiratory and other morbidities associated with use of various types of cooking fuels in rural area of Nagpur and to study the relationship between the duration of exposure (exposure index [EI]) and various morbidities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 760 non-smoking, non-pregnant women aged 15 years and above (mean age 32.51 ΁ 14.90 years) exposed to domestic smoke from cooking fuels from an early age, working in poorly ventilated kitchen were selected and on examination presented with various health problems. Exposure was calculated as the average hours spent daily for cooking multiplied by the number of years. Symptoms were enquired by means of a standard questionnaire adopted from that of the British Medical Research Council. Lung function was assessed by the measurement of peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR). PEFR less than 80% of the predicted was considered as abnormal pulmonary function. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Symptoms like eye irritation, headache, and diminution of vision were found to be significantly higher in biomass users (P < 0.05). Abnormal pulmonary function, chronic bronchitis, and cataract in biomass users was significantly higher than other fuel users (P < 0.05). Moreover an increasing trend in prevalence of symptoms/morbid conditions was observed with increase in EI. The presence of respiratory symptoms/morbid conditions was associated with lower values of both observed and percent predicted PEFR (P < 0.05 to 0.001). Thus women exposed to biofuels smoke suffer more from health problems and respiratory illnesses when compared with other fuel users.

Effect of indoor air pollution during cooking on peak expiratory flow rate and its association with exposure index in rural women.

Routine exposure to domestic cooking fuels is an important source of indoor air pollution causing deterioration of lung function. We conducted a community based cross-sectional study in 760 non-smoking rural women involved in household cooking with four types of cooking fuels i.e. Biomass, Kerosene stove, Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Mixed (combination of two and more cooking fuels). Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) less than 80% of the predicted was considered as abnormal PEFR. The overall prevalence of abnormal PEFR was found to be 29.1% with greater predominance among biomass fuel users (43.3%) with high risk ratio (1.86) as compared to kerosene (0.63), LPG (0.75) and mixed (0.66) fuel users. However the pair wise comparison of different groups of cooking fuels by Marascuilo procedure reported significant differences within different groups except kerosene--mixed group. The study also demonstrated a negative correlation between observed PEFR and exposure indices in different cooking fuels (r = -0.51). Our results indicate that prolonged exposure to cooking fuels particularly biomass fuels as a source of cooking adversely affects PEFR in nonsmoking rural women.

Effect of short-term and long-term Brahmakumaris Raja Yoga meditation on physiological variables.

Effect of short-term and long-term Brahmakumaris Raja Yoga meditation on physiological variables like heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was evaluated in 100 subjects practicing Raja Yoga meditation. All 100 subjects (33 men and 67 women) were aged 30 years and above (mean age 52.06 +/- 12.76 years). Short-term meditators (STM) (n = 27) practiced Raja Yoga meditation for duration of six months to five years (mean duration 3.37 +/- 1.67 years) and long-term meditators (LTM) (n = 73) practiced Raja Yoga meditation for more than five years (mean duration 11.19 +/- 5.13 years). The participants were asked to meditate and the physiological variables (HR, RR, SBP and DBP) were recorded twice (15 minutes and 30 minutes) after beginning of meditation. Also, the fasting blood sugar was estimated by glucometer. The study subjects did not differ significantly in age and various anthropometric characteristics such as body weight, body mass index, waist-hip ratio and fasting blood sugar. Comparison between STM and LTM showed that the changes from baseline values (from premeditation to post-meditation at 15 and 30 minutes) in LTM were not statistically significant with those in STM (P > 0.05). However, within group differences in LTM revealed that changes in the physiological variables were statistically significant when compared between pre and post meditation both at 15 and 30 minutes. The study suggests that the long-term practice of Raja Yoga meditation improves basic cardio-respiratory functions due to shifting of the autonomic balance in favor of parasympathetic instead of sympathetic system.