New Delhi: Residents of Delhi-NCR continue to face severe disruption as the city battles an unrelenting cold wave combined with extremely poor air quality. The harsh winter mornings and evenings are making daily life difficult, while pollution levels remain dangerously high, raising concerns over public health, particularly for people prone to autoimmune diseases.
According to AIIMS doctors, factors such as stress and sleep deprivation further increase the risk of autoimmune conditions. Dr. Uma Kumar, Head of the Rheumatology Department at AIIMS, explained that limited sunlight during winter leads to vitamin D deficiency, while pollution, viral infections, and mental stress compound the risk. Post-COVID, the number of such patients has also risen.
Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 3.8°C on Wednesday, 3.6°C below normal, with maximum temperatures reaching around 20°C during the day. Partial cloud cover is expected on Thursday, but the cold wave is likely to persist.
Pollution remains a major concern, with Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) reported at a hazardous 353. Forecasts suggest that extreme pollution levels will continue for the next ten days, from January 15 to 24.
Dr. Kumar advised that chronic stress increases inflammation in the body, potentially triggering or worsening autoimmune responses. Sleep deprivation has similar effects, particularly for night-shift workers. She also cautioned against overprotecting children, recommending that they be allowed to develop natural immunity without unnecessary interventions, such as exclusively consuming RO water from birth.
On treatment, she emphasized that autoimmune diseases, like diabetes and hypertension, require long-term management and should not be judged based solely on outpatient trends, as tertiary care centers like AIIMS receive complex cases regularly.