Air pollution in India linked with higher risk of heart disease, stroke: Study
London: Exposure to high levels of ambient and household air pollution in India is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke, according a study.
A team led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) in Spain is the first to explore the association between ambient and household air pollution, and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) -- a marker of atherosclerosis or thickening of arteries -- in a population of a low-and-middle income country.
The study, performed in a periurban area in Hyderabad, Telangana, shows that people most exposed to fine particles have a higher CIMT index, which means they are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases such as stroke or heart attack.
The study, published in International Journal of Epidemiology, was performed with 3,372 participants.
The team measured CIMT and estimated exposure to air pollution using an algorithm called land use regression (LUR), which is frequently used to predict the amount of fine particles -- suspended particles with a diameter under 2.5 micrometres -- in high-income countries.
The participants also provided information on the type of cooking fuel they used.
The results show that high annual exposure to ambient fine particles was associated with a higher CIMT, particularly in men, participants above 40 years of age, or those with cardiometabolic risk factors, the researchers said.
Sixty per cent of participants in the study used biomass cooking fuel.
"People using biomass fuel for cooking had a higher CIMT, particularly women who cooked in unventilated spaces," Otavio Ranzani, ISGlobal researcher and first author of the study, explained.
"Women had a higher CIMT than men, which could be due to the fact that they spend more time in the kitchen, breathing air polluted by biomass fuel," he said.
Annual average exposure to PM2.5 was 32.7 microgrammes (mg) per cubic metre (m3), far above the maximum levels of 10 mg/m3 recommended by the Word Health Organzation (WHO).
"This study is relevant for countries which, like India, are experiencing a rapid epidemiological transition and a sharp increase in the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and obesity," said Cathryn Tonne, ISGlobal researcher and coordinator of the study said in a statement.
"In addition, the country is affected by high levels of air pollution, both ambient and indoors," Tonne said. She said the findings highlight the need to perform more studies on air pollution in low- and middle-income countries.
The conclusions may differ considerably from studies in high income countries due to differences in population characteristics and air pollution levels and sources, Tonne noted.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
