Health Weekly Roundup: Diwali air over north India world’s worst, air pollution behind 1 in 10 under-5 deaths, new breast cancer cases to rise to 3.2 mn a year by 2030

This week was filled with important medical discoveries, researches and health news. To ensure that you don’t miss any, we bring you a weekly roundup. Here is this week’s aggregation of the latest news stories on health, fitness and diet. Delhi chokes on worst Nov smog in many years The air quality index for 4 pm on November 2 was 432, in the “severe” category, while the index on October 31 (post Diwali) was 445. At 14 times the safe limit, Ggn breathes fire Concentration of PM 2.5 touched the…

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Diwali Air Over North India Was World’s Worst

Over the Diwali weekend of 2016, India’s air quality was among the world’s worst, between 40 per cent and 100 per cent worse in five north Indian cities than at the same time the preceding year, according to global air pollution data, and an IndiaSpend analysis of national data and its own #Breathe network of sensors. On October 30 and 31 this year, from 9 pm to the wee hours of the next morning, North India — especially parts of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar — recorded PM 2.5 levels…

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Why I Didn’t Burst Crackers This Diwali (and Maybe You Shouldn’t Too)

I love festivals. Unabashedly so. The anticipation, dressing up, the traditions involved, the food (oh the food!!) and absolutely anything and everything about festivals. I dress like the demure Indian bride on Karwachauth, have my tree up every Christmas and love tossing popcorns into the bonfire on Lohri. But most of all, I love the month of Diwali. The period between Dussehra and Diwali is my favourite time of the year. The vibe of the Capital city changes completely. It is the month when the weather (thankfully) is sublime, there…

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Delhi Chokes on Toxic Smog After Diwali

New Delhi was shrouded in a thick blanket of toxic smog Monday after millions of Indians lit firecrackers to mark the Diwali festival, with authorities reporting record levels of pollution in parts of the capital. The reading for pollutants in the atmosphere breached the 1,000 microgram mark for the first time in one neighbourhood in south Delhi — 10 times the World Health Organization’s recommended level. It came on the same day that another United Nations body reported how some 300 million children live with outdoor air so polluted it…

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Diwali Special: How to Detox After The Festivities

Diwali festivities are over and the one thing that we dread is the weighing scale. Indulgence has been at its peak and all that we probably need right now is to detox and cleanup. For a lot of people, the word detox conjures up images of struggles with alcohol, caffeine, sugar laden and processed food, but detoxification is a natural process. Your body knows how to clean and flush out toxins. It’s one of the most basic automatic functions. Just as your heart beats nonstop and your lungs breathe continuously,…

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Diwali 2016 Special: 3 Breathing Exercises to Help You Deal With the Pollution this Diwali

  Diwali, the festival of lights, is here and we all are geared up with our favourite mithais, namkeens and other goodies. Diwali festivities are never devoid of firecrackers that cause a measurable spike in air pollution levels every year. Delhi Pollution Central Committee (DPCC) suggests the contamination levels in the capital city to have markedly skyrocketed before Diwali. This pollution majorly originates from the smoke emitted from firecrackers and adversely affects the health of a lot of people, especially those suffering from respiratory problems like asthma. According to the…

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