TO STUDY CORRELATION BETWEEN HEMOGLOBIN LEVELS AND THE USE OF BIOMASS FUEL (WOOD) FOR COOKING BY FEMALES IN RURAL AREAS OF LUCKNOW DISTRICT

Hemoglobin is the protein molecule present in red blood cells that carries O from the lungs to the body tissues and returns CO from the 2 2 tissues back to the lungs. The red blood cells have the ability to concentrate hemoglobin in the cell fluid up to about 34 grams in each 100 ml of cells. Anemia refers to a reduced oxygen carrying capacity of blood either due to reduced red blood cell count or decreased hemoglobin concentration. Anemia in women apart from many other causes is possibly due to the result of systemic inflammation which is probably because of the smoke of biomass fuels. To study correlation between hemoglobin levels and use of biomass fuel (wood) for cooking by females in rural areas of Lucknow district. The examination was done on the 44 females between 18 to 55 years of age and cooking food using biomass fuels for at least 5 years. Women who were pregnant, having history of bleeding disorders like hemophilia and Thalassaemia, history of tobacco intake, history of medications like steroids and history of hemorrhoids were excluded from the study. Examination of the blood sample for hemoglobin estimation was collected in the rural health training center (RHTC) of Era's Lucknow medical college and Hospital and hemoglobin estimation was done in the hospital lab services (HLS) Era's Lucknow medical college and hospital, which use fully analyzing method SYSMEX XS 8001for hemoglobin estimation . The correlation between biomass fuel (wood) smoke and hemoglobin levels was strongly positive and statistically highly significant (p= 0.004). The decrease in hemoglobin levels due to exposure to indoor air pollution resulting from the burning of biomass fuels in smoky fires for cooking have important implications for diagnosis of anemia.