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Tips To Keep Your Lungs Healthy: Even before Diwali festivities, Delhi has begun to choke with worsening air quality at the month end of October. On Monday morning, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) crossed the 300 mark and reached the ‘very poor’ category. With dense smog and increasing air pollution, people are once again experiencing difficulties in breathing, eye allergies and respiratory problems in the capital city.

Air pollution is one of the leading causes of health conditions such as stroke, heart attacks, asthma, and acute and chronic respiratory problems. The harmful agents of the toxic air pollutants increase the risk of asthma and even lead to lung function damage in people.

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In a conversation with Jagran English, Dr Kuldeep Kumar Grover, Head of Critical Care and Pulmonology, CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram highlighted the health risk factors associated with poor air quality and ways by which people can protect themselves from air pollution.

Dr Grover explained that over time, breathing toxic fine particles in the air escalates the chances of developing chronic obstructive lung diseases (COPD), cardiovascular diseases or lung cancer. Amid increasing air pollution and worsening air quality index, following some tips can help in keeping your lungs safe and protecting your overall well-being. Dr Grover listed some effective tips to keep yourself safe and healthy amid air pollution.

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Tips To Keep Your Lungs Healthy

Stop Smoking

The first and foremost tip would be to stop smoking as it leads to bronchitis and COPD problems. It is also very important to understand that even a brief exposure to cigarette smoke can be harmful, which means secondhand smoke should also be avoided.

Regular Exercise

Regularly engaging in physical exercise makes our body fit. Activities like brisk walking and cycling will help in keeping our lungs healthy.

Do not skip your daily exercise routine and practise indoor exercises (Image Credits: Canva)

Healthy Diet

Maintain a healthy diet and stay hydrated to protect yourself from air pollution. Include foods with high water content such as watermelon, he lemon, and foods rich in vitamin C such as citrus fruits to boost your immunity. Drink plenty of water to let the toxins pass through your body.

Get Annual Check-Ups

Getting annual checkups is extremely important to detect any persisting medical conditions. Make sure to pay a visit to a doctor annually and get a full body checkup.

ALSO READ: Delhi’s Air Quality Worsens To ‘Very Poor’ Category; Mumbai Records 'Moderate' AQI

Vaccinations

Stay up to date with vaccinations. Adult vaccination with pneumococcal every 5 years and influenza annually.

Avoid Outdoor Air

If possible, try to stay indoors to avoid breathing toxic outdoor pollution. Avoid pollution exposure as much as possible.

Further, Dr Grover suggested improving indoor air quality, avoiding exercising outdoors on excessive pollution days, avoiding exercising near high-traffic areas and not burning wood or trash. These small yet effective measures will protect you from increasing air pollution.