A dangerous habit, man with oxygen tank and the story of India's toxic air

International News

Over 34 years, as India’s economy expanded and flourished, Raj Iyer was on the move, travelling at least 14 days a month as a consultant with nonprofit and government agencies.
His itinerant, fulfilling life changed 11 years ago when he repeatedly felt short of breath and was eventually diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which had debilitated his lungs and his ability to breathe.Smoking 60 cigarettes a day for 40 years was probably the immediate cause, although worsening air pollution may have played a role.
“I knew my symptoms were of a respiratory disease but I didn’t know it was COPD,” said Iyer. “I certainly didn’t know how bad it gets or that it is incurable.”
Today, Iyer is 69, and his once expansive life has shrunk to a room in his house in Bengaluru’s eastern Pai Layout, where he lives with his primary caregivers, his 34-year-old son and 27-year-old daughter-in-law, whose lives, as we explain later, are circumscribed by his illness.“When I first got married (in 2012), his COPD was not as bad, and he didn’t need continuous oxygen support,” said Antara Karthikeyan, Iyer’s daughter-in-law and a kindergarten teacher.
As the COPD progressed, Iyer needed oxygen support, multiple hospitalisations because of breathlessness caused by high levels of carbon dioxide--which is toxic to the body and accumulates when COPD affects ability of the lungs to expel carbon dioxide--and fell frequently due to his weakening bones.

 Iyer’s room is taken over by the paraphernalia of his life-support system. A “BiPAP machine”, which is a respirator that steadies his breathing. A portable oxygen concentrator to take along while travelling...Read More