9 hours in an AC workplace may be disastrous

9 hours in an AC workplace may be disastrous

We can't afford an office under a tree, but 9 hours in an AC workplace means you are at risk

They weren't lying when they said you can survive on love and fresh air. Being in open spaces, research has proved, strengthens your immunity since white blood cells that fight bacteria need oxygen to function effectively. A free supply of oxygen means your blood pressure and heart rate is in check since the body isn't overworking itself to acquire it.

Blood oxygen levels are also linked to serotonin, the 'happiness hormone', which is why you are more likely to slip into a refreshed, relaxed state when in green outdoors.

The hitch, of course, is that most urban residents end up spending close to nine hours a day in air-conditioned offices, often following it up with a whole night's sleep in closed, cool bedrooms.

Your lungs are the first hit, which is why respiratory infections including common cold, frequent headaches, itchy throat and symptoms of flu, are most common among young, urban professionals. Fresh air that helps the lung's airways to dilate, releasing airborne toxins from your system, is scant in swanky AC offices.

Dr Gauri Mankekar, consultant ENT surgeon at Hinduja Hospital, says an air conditioner is able to cause cooling through the process of evaporation. "Thanks to the very manner in which it functions, an AC ends up drying the mucous membranes in the nose and mouth," she says. Our nasal passages, sinuses and throat depend on moisture in the membranes for their immune functions. When moist, the immunity cells are able to attract and trap viruses, bacteria and allergens, acting as the body's first line of defence against airborne pathogens. Most air-conditioners aren't fitted with humidifiers, upping levels of dryness in the surrounding air.

This constant and direct exposure to cold, dry air can ruin the skin, robbing it off its elasticity, leaving it itchy, scaly and aged. Skin conditions like dermatitis and eczema are common among those who spend long hours in cool, dry recycled air, says dermatologist Dr Sushil Tahiliani.

More harmful than the low temperatures is the growth of mold, a microscopic fungi, that lives inside AC vents and ducts, with high moisture levels and dust offering it a good breeding ground.

While filters fitted in AC units are designed to prevent the spread of bacteria and virus, if not cleaned regularly, with the accumulation of pollutants over time, they end up hosting bacteria. "Since it's the same stale air that's re-circulated all day, we end up inhaling viruses and droplet infections," says Dr Mankekar. Ideally, filters should be cleaned once a month. When the AC serviceman arrives, make sure he uses anti-fungi chemical solutions instead of using a simple vacuum and brush that will only loosen the mold.

The corrective plan
- While working in a ventilated office isn't an option for most of us, try and reduce the number of time you sleep in a closed, AC room. Open all windows, doors and let in sunlight every morning. Air out your linen in between washing cycles.

- Make sure the office AC is set to 25 degrees. This 'average' temperature helps because it doesn't 'shock' a new entrant who might be walking in from the blistering heat outside. Sudden and extreme temperature fluctuations in the body can also affect the joints.

- Dr Mankekar suggests you layer your body with sufficient clothing inside AC rooms, and un-peel when outdoors.

- Install a warm mist humidifier at work, if possible. Else, keep a large vessel with a wide mouth filled with water in a corner of the office. It can work towards circulating moisture in the air. Keep yourself hydrated by drinking water every few hours, splashing your eyes with water and going out for a quick stroll during lunch hour to get a dose of sunlight and oxygen.

Top 10 Things To Know About The Effects of Stress

Top 10 Things To Know About The Effects of Stress

Wrong Attitude Increases Stress Level

We all experience stress, but the pessimists, perfectionists, and those with 'type A' personalities greatly increase the level of stress they experience in a given event, and even bring more stressful events into their lives with their self sabotage thought and behavior patterns. If you have some of these tendencies, you can significantly reduce the level of stress you experience with these resources on stress and self sabotage. 

Some Types of Stress Can Be Beneficial

A certain type of stress is actually necessary and beneficial for a balanced and exciting life. Eustress is the type of stress you experience when you're riding a roller-coaster (if you enjoy fast rides), are playing a fun game, or are falling in love. Eustress makes us feel vital and alive. 

You Can Stop Your Stress Reaction Right Now

When you experience stress, all manner of physiological changes occur to get you in top physical shape to fight or run. Unfortunately, if you don't calm yourself down relatively quickly, you could remain in this altered state for too long, and it could take a toll on your health. Practicing stress relievers like breathing exercises and meditation can calm you down quickly, returning your body to normal.

Even Small Amounts of Stress Can Affect Your Health

You may be aware that months spent in a stressful life situation can leave you vulnerable to illness, but did you know that relatively short periods of stress can also compromise your immune system, elevating your risk of illness? Sadly, it's true. 

Wrong Attitude Can Make You Sick

Negative thought patterns and emotional stress can lead to psychosomatic illness, a condition that's caused at least in part by stress, but has physical symptoms that need to be treated as any other illness does. 

You Can Prevent A Significant Amount Of Stress In Your Life From Occurring

Some stress is inevitable, but you can structure your life in ways that buffer you from stress and stressful events. For example, maintaining a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and having at least a few close friendships are all important ways to relieve stress and stay healthy. Find more ways to relieve daily stress in your life, and prevent some of your stress from ever occurring.

Stress can age you prematurely in many ways

It may be surprising, but stress can be more of a factor in determining your physical age than the number of candles you blow out each year. Stress actually speeds up wear and tear on many, many areas of your body and at all levels, inducing many of the changes we refer to when we talk about 'aging'. 

Not Everyone Experiences Stress In The Same Way

Certain inborn personality traits and learned thought patterns can cause two people who live through the same event to experience it very differently, with one person finding it extremely stressful and the other finding it only mildly stressful or not at all. Some of these traits you can't change, but others you can alter to a large degree. Read more about mental traits contributing to burnout and stress, and find resources for altering your experience of stress.

Some 'Stress Relievers' Actually Cause More Stress

Most of us have a few less-than-healthy ways of dealing with stress. Unfortunately, most of these 'bad habits' that feel so good at the time can really cause much more stress in the long run. If you smoke, drink in excess, spend too much, or handle stress in a way you know may not be good for you, find resources for understanding how you're affecting your stress levels right now. 

Your Stress can be Gone by Imagining that It Can Be

Certain mental stress relief techniques, such as affirmations, guided imagery and visualizations, involve imagining that your stress is gone.

What and How on Stress

What and How on Stress

Stress as defined in dictionaries "the failure of a person to respond appropriately to a situation that develops in his/her life." Stress can be a real situation or could just exist in the person’s mind. Whether or not it is real, the brain reacts in the some way to produce a state of alarm in the body by producing more hormones that are necessary to prepare the body for "fight or flight".




Three stages of stress in the way the body reacts to: 


The first stage is alarm, which results in the release of adrenaline, as well as the activation of the HPA axis that produces cortisol. 


The second stage is resistance if the stressor exists for a period of time. 


This is the body’s way of coping with stress. When it has to keep this up for a long time, the result is exhaustion, which is the third stage. At this point the body has depleted its resources for dealing with stress. This is when we are most aware of the symptoms of stress as it manifests itself in other ways, such as headache, stomach problems, mood changes, or depression, to list some examples.


Negative and positive experiences can cause stress. These are facets of the environment that can place the body in a state of stress as well, such as exposure to sounds and scents that cause unpleasant sensations, and situations such as lack of food and proper housing.


Everyone experiences stress at some time or another in their lives. It may be a one-time event or something that continues for a prolonged period. The effect that stress has on your life and the severity of the symptoms depend to a great extent on the ways in which you manage the stress or reduce it. 


We commonly think of stress in our lives as being harmful and of having negative effects. However stress can be beneficial when you develop ways of managing stress properly. When you have a problem to solve, you can benefit from the stress because it encourages you to seek solutions and redirect your thinking. You need to have a healthy attitude towards stress in order to face new situations with an open mind. 


For many people, past experiences have a direct bearing on how well they are at managing stress in their lives. Those who have been rejected many times will no doubt have low self-confidence and their way of managing stress will be to shy away from any situation that they perceive as being stressful for them. 


This type of behavior, when it persists over a long period of time, can lead to more serious psychological problems and phobias. Chronic stress can lead to a breakdown in relationships, leading to divorce and addiction to drugs and alcohol, overeating/weight gain, or extreme weight loss.


When you recognize the symptoms of stress in your life, you should begin to look for ways in which you can cope with stress. If this is not possible, then you need to look for ways of managing it or for solutions to help you get relief. Taking up a new hobby that will get your mind off the situation, going for a walk, having a laugh with friends - all of these are great ways of managing your stress so that you stay healthy.




In my next article: Top 10 Things To Know About The Effects of Stress

SWINE FLU (swine influenza)

SWINE FLU (swine influenza)

Swine flu (swine influenza) is a respiratory disease caused by viruses (influenza viruses) that infect the respiratory tract of pigs and result in nasal secretions, a barking cough, decreased appetite, and listless behavior.  In same manner Swine flu viruses may change so that they are easily transmissible among humans.

 Swine flu is the common name given to a relatively new strain of influenza (flu) that caused a flu pandemic in 2009-2010.  It is also referred to as H1N1 influenza (because it is the H1N1 strain of virus).

Current status

On 10 August 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the H1N1 influenza pandemic was officially over.  However, it is important not to ignore H1N1 flu. The H1N1 flu virus will be one of the main viruses circulating this winter. Therefore, the H1N1 flu virus has been included in the 2010-11 seasonal flu vaccine.

Vaccination

The people who are in high-risk groups be vaccinated against H1N1 (swine flu). This includes all pregnant women, at any stage of pregnancy, and those not in high-risk groups are advised to take the seasonal flu jab, which protects against H1N1 flu.

What to do if you have H1N1 flu

People with H1N1 flu typically have a fever or high temperature (over 38C or 100.4F) and may also have aching muscles, sore throat or a dry cough. The symptoms are very similar to other types of seasonal flu. Most people recover within a week, even without special treatment.

High-risk groups

Some people are more at risk of complications if they catch flu. People are particularly vulnerable if they have:

·         chronic (long-term) lung disease

·         chronic heart disease

·         chronic kidney disease

·         chronic liver disease

·         chronic neurological disease (neurological disorders include motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease)

·         immunosuppression (whether caused by disease or treatment)

·         diabetes mellitus

Also at risk are:

·         patients who have had drug treatment for asthma in the past three years

·         pregnant women

·         people aged 65 and over

To stop the virus spreading

The most important way to stop flu spreading is to have good respiratory and hand hygiene. This means sneezing into a tissue and quickly putting it in a bin. Wash your hands and work surfaces regularly and thoroughly to kill the virus.

MOBILE TOWER RADIATION HAZARDS - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 MOBILE TOWER RADIATION HAZARDS - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1.       What are the Health Hazards faced with Mobile Towers Radiations?

    Sleep Disturbance, Headaches, Memory Loss, Lack of Concentration, Fatigue, Joint Pains,   Vision Distortion, Miscarriage, Heart Problems, Brain Tumour, Leukaemia, Cancer, etc.
    Also, it affects birds, animals, fruit yield of the trees, and environment.
    Because of Mobile Tower Radiation Sparrows became endangerous species

2.      Do we have any Medical Reports to prove these?

    Overuse of cell phones leads to hearing loss and ear tumour, and this has been reported by several doctors in India. On May 31, 2011, WHO reported, “The electromagnetic fields produced by mobile phones are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as possibly carcinogenic to humans.”
 

    There are several epidemiological studies done in various countries, such as, Germany, Austria, Brazil, Israel, etc. where they have reported increase in cancer cases in 5 to 10 years, where radiation level was more than 1  mW/m2. Cancer is the last stage and before that people living close to mobile phone towers have reported sleep disturbance, headaches, memory loss, lack of concentration, fatigue, joint pains, vision distortion, miscarriage, heart problems, etc. There are cluster of cancer cases in India also, which occurred after a few years of installation of mobile towers, and where radiation levels were around 10 mW/m2.
    

One of the links with peer reviewed publications on EMF effect on human and environment with epidemiological and experimental studies. http://www.cellphonetaskforce.org/

3.      What are the Indian Standards of EMF radiation levels permitted?

    India follows ICNIRP Guidelines of safe radiation density of 4500 milliwatt/m2 for GSM900 and 9200 milliwatt/m2 for GSM1800. However, ICNIRP guidelines clearly state that these are for short term exposure, averaged over 6 minutes and not for long term exposure. Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) Report recommended adopting 1/10th of ICNIRP guidelines in Jan. 2011.

4.      What is the highest reading of EMF radiation level recorded so far?

    Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has reported highest measured reading of power density as 450 mW/m2 and most of their readings are within 1 to 100 mW / m2. That’s why they always claim that they are     within the safe limits. However, from health point of view, safe limit for 24 hours exposure should be less than 0.1 mW / m2.

5.      How far from Mobile Towers / Base Station is safe so that there is no health hazard faced by humans?

    Radiation level at a place depends upon power transmitted, radiation pattern of the antenna, and distance from the transmitting towers. From health point of view, for 24 hours exposure and assuming human life span of 70 years, safe radiation density is less than 0.1 mW/m2, which includes apartments, schools, hospitals, offices and playgrounds. Safe radiation density can be 10mW/m2, where people spend few minutes a day. Currently in     India, base stations transmit 20W/carrier, so in the main beam, a distance of less than 300m is not safe. If the power transmitted is reduced by 100 times, then safe distance will reduce by 10 times.

6.      Why should mobile phone towers not be close to Hospitals, Schools and Residences where pregnant ladies and Senior Residents reside? At what distance they should be?

    Children and pregnant ladies are more sensitive to radiation, and hence they should not be exposed to high radiation for longer time. Senior residents and patients with weak immune system are more susceptible to high radiation.

7.      Are there any International standards for Mobile Towers?

    Height at which the Towers should be installed – 30 m
    Distance at which the Towers should be installed from Residences, Hospitals, Schools – 50 m
    Power Transmission by the Towers – 1 to 2W in the dense urban area

8.      The Cell Phone Service providers are very financially strong and have strong political contacts. They conduct Seminars in 5 Star Hotels, invite foreign delegates, and distribute printed leaflets manipulated at times. The Civil Society does not have all this. How to put our point forward? We need technical studies literature to support.

    There are plenty of technical literatures reporting health hazards to human, birds, animals, plants, and trees, etc. We need to raise funds, which can be utilized for creating awareness and fund epidemiological studies.

9.      Unless we are able to create public awareness, nothing is going to happen as telcos lobby is very strong. How do we go about it to create mass awareness through TV and media? How do we engage NGOs and Political parties especially opposition parties to raise relevant questions in the Parliament and also create public awareness.

    We have to create public awareness through digital media, i.e., facebook, twitter, blog, email, SMS, etc. We can also request cricketers and bollywood people to join the campaign, as reporters like to cover them. Also, involve school and college children; let us not underestimate youth of our country.

10.   Can we get copies of rules and regulations for the radiation norms in the countries like Switzerland, Russia, Australia and Italy which countries seem to have adopted norms which are safe enough for all living beings?

    We can get copies of rules and regulations of the radiation norms adopted in the other countries through internet.