Penny-pinching at the cost of health

A 38-year-old woman suffers from a sudden spell of extreme vertigo; an engineer is found in an unconscious state and another 14-year-old boy is found frothing from his mouth.

All of them were discovered by their families, lying on the bathroom floors of their homes, and suffering from the Gas Geyser Syndrome, according to the Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology. 

Gas Geyser Syndrome (GGS) is caused due to excessive inhaling of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) which emanates from the gas geysers installed for heating water. Twenty-six cases of gas geyser syndrome have been documented with various neurological effects from 2008 to 2011 by Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi. 

Domestic Gas cylinders, used for cooking purposes, are being increasingly used to heat hot water by connecting it to gas geysers. The phenomenon was mostly witnessed in areas with an extremely poor supply of electricity and among economically weaker sections of the society.

But with the number of power cuts across the city, gas geysers are seemingly gaining more ground. Moreover, out of the 895 unauthorised colonies of Delhi, a majority of them face severe power shortages especially in winters, a season in which hot water is in much demand. 

A result of which has shown a growing trend of patients with gas geyser syndrome this winter too. Among some of the symptoms of GGS is fatigue, seizure, cardiac arrest, epilepsy. However the syndrome can be much more lethal than perceived by people. Early onset of Parkinsonian syndrome, induced coma, paralysis and even death. 

In 2004, a35-year-old nurse died in her bathroom while in 2005 a 13-year-old boy from JP Nagar and a 19-year-old engineering student were found dead under similar conditions. While there have been hardly any reported deaths after 2005, mostly due to public awareness, there have been cases due to gross negligence on part of the user.

Dr Tantray of the Apollo Hospital in Sarita Vihar, recently treated her first gas geyser syndrome patient. “The patient was a 17-year-old female and was brought in unconscious. According to the history of the patient, it came to fore that the family had installed a gas geyser and the girl, in the morning, had gone to her bathroom to take a bath,” Tantray said, adding that by the time the girl was brought in by her family, “it was too late”.

“The teenager had suffered hypoxic brain injury and was brain dead. Her parents then asked for LAMA (left against medical advice),” the doctor added.

“Cost-effective gas geysers have become popular,” said Ramesh Maan, a gas dealer in south Delhi. According to him commercial LPG cylinders can last for over three months for a family of four, if the usage is restricted to heating water for bathing. 

“If commercial gas cylinders are not easily available, families buy domestic ones. But families in a bid to save some money prefer gas geysers. The increased sale of gas in winters suggests the same. It’s savings over health,” he added.