Life in a metro is killing us

BMC survey shows how the daily grind of a big-city life, overlaid with poor lifestyle choices, are at the root of the top four illnesses afflicting Mumbaikars’ physical and mental health. Over 2 years, some 2.3L citizens were treated for mental ailments alone.

Of the 73 lakh Mumbaikars who visited major civic hospitals over two years, 31 per cent, or 2,26,300  suffered from psychiatric illnesses. Diabetes, hypertension and lifestyle diseases tailed mental illness. All these are rooted in the stress churned by the relentless grind of daily life, and all that goes on in the name of recovering from it, in this megapolis. These are the findings of a survey conducted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation between October 2015 and September 2017, and it reflects the state of the entire city, experts say.

Mumbai’s upper-middle class in fact saw a 40-60 per cent rise psychological and psychosomatic disorders during the period. And diabetes in the 12-35 age group rose drastically.

People are constantly on the move, whether it is for a job, their child’s admission, or hedonistic pursuits. And they are exhausted. Doctors say patients come with complaints of tiredness, fatigue, sleep disturbances and so on all the time. The educational, financial, professional and social tensions are on rise.

DNA takes a look at what is ailing Mumbaikars and what can be done to restore a measure of health.

All in the head

Doctors attribute mental health concerns that affect mood, thinking and behaviour to inability to cope up with stress. This eventually leads to distress and throws an individual’s social, professional and family life out of gear.

Psychiatrist Yusuf Matcheswalla said, “People migrate to Mumbai to work. All of them are caught up in work. Most are away from family. More work pressure, long travelling hours and less sleep is stressing them out.”

“People don’t get outlets to release their tensions. There is a lack of community activities and rise in isolation. People have more activities but less time to relax. This has given rise to unhealthy lifestyles causing anxiety,  and fatigue, leading to depression and suicide attempts,” Dr Matcheswalla said.

He said studies have shown there is 40 to 60 percent increase in all kinds of psychological and psychosomatic disorders, which include panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and so on.

Dr Shubhangi Parkar, head of department (Psychiatry) in KEM hospital, said, “The rise of illnesses is more in women than men. Multiple responsibilities at home, work and finance has generated stress and mental illnesses. Youngsters get stressed due to educational and work pressures and competitiveness. People are now more educated but there are fewer job opportunities.”

However, people can avoid stress by setting up priorities. Spare time for yourself, doctors advise. Getting the basic six hours of sleep, eating simple and healthy food, physically activity and strong cope-up mechanisms all help reduce stress.

Without a coat of sugar

A study in September 2016 observed that 1 out of 5 people suffers from diabetes in Mumbai and the major cause is drastic change in lifestyle. Diabetes in youngsters has risen dramatically, said diabetologist Pradeep Gadge.

Although diabetes, ascribed to obesity, high cholesterol and stress, is considered a genetic disorder, multiple risk factors have increased in the last few years. “People in the 25-40 age group are overambitious. They have an aggressive approach to life. Youngsters prefer fast food, which is high in salt and cholesterol. Even in the older population, consumption of pizzas and burgers has increased. These foods are riddled with calories, carbs and sugar. They raise the chance of diabetes,” Dr Ghadge

Diabetologist Rajiv Kovil says diabetes is a combination of hereditary as well as external factors like not following healthy life pattern. Eating healthy, sleeping well and exercising help avoid diabetes. “In this free-for-all, people end up eating junk food, partying late, disrupting meal times. They don’t make the effort to have a healthy life pattern. They invest 3 to 4 hours daily in commute. This has pushed many to diabetes,” he said.

Such a life also causes obesity, diabetes and high-blood pressure, which affects the heart and chances of heart attacks also increases.

“People have office parties, business meetings, late-night dinners which is coupled with the stress at work place. In urban India the type 2 diabetes which was affecting the age group 45-50 years is now highly affecting age group 25-30 years. This is because two decades earlier the amount of stress a 45-year-old had, a 25-year -old faces now,” Dr Kovil said.

If the market for fast food and sweets has grown, the market for diabetes and obesity has also equally grown. People just need to inculcate exercise and sport in their routine and not just start it right after being affected by illnesses, he said.

Dr Kovil added that diabetes is the third common cause after HIV and Cancer for decreasing the immune system. Thus diabetic patients are inclined to more diseases commonly urinary infections, cardiovascular diseases.

Nerves taut

A human body’s blood pressure is calculated as upper level (120 and 140 mm) and lower (80-90 mm). Hypertension, calculated as low, moderate and high, depends on the blood pressure, and raising the chances of a heart attack and stroke. If hypertension is not treated, a person faces kidney failure.

Cardiologist Nilesh Gautam says Mumbai’s young and working population faces stress in reaching office on time. Inside the office, there is the stress to perform better. “The salt perpetuates and leads to hypertension. People have more travelling hours and less time to sleep. They neither perform yoga nor meditate. This causes rise in blood pressure levels,” he said.

“Patients with high blood pressure for 8 to 10 years eventually get to the point of a heart attack, stroke or kidney diseases. These illnesses are also on rise,” Dr Gautam said.

“The main cause of high blood pressure is the drastic increase of salt intake. Earlier the food with high salt were only pickles and papad. But nowadays almost everything we get in the market is high in salt: sausages, burgers, pizzas and almost all spicy foods. The preservative foods have major component as salt and even the tablets we intake contains sodium as inert material. People are not aware of these facts and get prone to high blood pressure.

“People sometimes have no symptoms of hypertension. But patients with very high blood pressure have nosebleeds, headaches, dizziness and giddiness. Patients with high blood pressure are prone to heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases,” Dr Gadge said.

According to clinical psychologist Aarti Shroff, stress is directly related to heart diseases and anxiety and is a leading cause for hypertension.

Style of life

The way people are choosing to live is bringing them closer to death. Smoking, alcohol, tobacco use, drug abuse and junk food all contribute to lifestyle diseases, and people are lilting more na dmore towards them, experts says.

Psychiatrist Anjali Chabbria said mental health, diabetes, hypertension and lifestyle diseases are related. “People have very sedentary lifestyles which give rise to diabetes and obesity. They have no time to exercise. Stress levels are going through the roof. And hormones are thrown off-balance. All of this affects the brain,” she said.  

“In Mumbai more and more people are in the same space for the same thing. Travelling long hours in public transport and traffic leads to stress. People have no open spaces to play and are suck to gadgets. Even schools give more importance to education than play. Everywhere there is the stress on performance, she said.

“When people are unable to cope with stress positively, they incline towards smoking, drinking and drugs as stress-busters. These addictions give rise to other medical conditions,” Dr Chabbria said.

Dr Sanjay Kumawat, former chairman of Directorate of Health Services, says social changes, disintegrating families, isolation, pressure at school and workload have caused changes in the kinds of life people live.

“For recreation, people have to gather for a cigarette or drink these days,” Dr Kumawat said.

He suggests that people need to strengthen their immune systems to fight illness. And the only way to do that is to acquire a healthy lifestyle.