Poll stroke? Noisy campaigns land heart patients in hospital

HYDERABAD: With hectic campaigning for Lok Sabha elections, many people are landing in hospitals with hypertension and heart-related complications, the doctors said.

Hospitalisation of people with heart-related complications has risen by 8-10 per cent, say experts. “We have noticed an increase in cases of hypertension and heart-related complications in the last seven days. Despite medication, the patients are showing increase in blood pressure levels. Also, many heart patients are being rehospitalised with aggravated symptoms. It is purely because of loud noise,” said Dr Sai Ravi Shankar, senior consultant cardiologist.

Doctors said that sound of over 80 decibels increases stress and irritation, which in turn causes a surge in hormones — adrenalin and cortisol. This surge in hormones is responsible for aggravating symptoms of heart-related problems, hypertension and can even cause heart attack and stroke.

In fact, most of the people showing increased signs of hypertension and heart-related complications are those staying near the main roads. “After three days of poll campaigning near our apartment, my father, who is a heart patient, felt uneasy and had to be rushed to a hospital,” said Venkata Sai, a resident of Road number 12 in Banjara Hills.

Several studies in the past have linked noise pollution to cardiovascular system problems, the high level of noise affects elderly and infants too. Several residents across the city said that campaigning using loud speakers should not be done near the hospitals.

“There is a constant movement of campaign vehicles which play songs on full volume for hours. They keep doing rounds throughout the day causing lot of disturbance to patients. Such loud music can given headache to healthy people, then imagine the plight of patients who are recovering after a surgery. Many patients are unable to sleep due to the noise. These election vehicles should not be allowed to move around the hospitals,” said Md Bismillah, staffer at a private hospital in Masab Tank.