There is an amazing number of airborne allergens and environmental "dandruff," if you will, that cause asthma-like symptoms.
In my office building, the vents have never been cleaned. Whenever the central air system kicks on, I start sneezing. I don't have asthma, but my office mate does, and it's annoying to be subjected to the stuff blowing out of dirty vents. We get terrible headaches. Someone told me that a woman who had worked in the building a few years ago complained to both the building property manager and our (government) employer. The response was to move her to another building - where conditions turned out to be worse. Go figure!
Dust mites and bed bugs around your bed can also cause asthma-like problems. I replaced my traditional spring coil mattress with a viscose foam one because such pests don't inhabit or survive in them. Keeping the ceiling fan blades clean is also important for controlling the amount of dust swirling about the room. Curtains, window blinds, lampshades, lightbulbs - so many surfaces you don't normally think about vacuuming or cleaning regularly can also pose problems as dust collectors.
These may not be such unusual sources of asthma, but I wonder how many non-asthmatic folks pay attention to these sources of irritation. Not many, judging by buildings and, I'm sorry to say, even some of the cleanest of homes I've been in.
And my least favorite problem: the cat box. I'm allergic to my daughter's cat and can't go near the cat box. Between the animal fur, dander and the litter, it's hard to breathe.
It's absolutely amazing how ordinary things we're surrounded by can be so problematic to our health!
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There is an amazing number of airborne allergens and environmental "dandruff," if you will, that cause asthma-like symptoms.
In my office building, the vents have never been cleaned. Whenever the central air system kicks on, I start sneezing. I don't have asthma, but my office mate does, and it's annoying to be subjected to the stuff blowing out of dirty vents. We get terrible headaches. Someone told me that a woman who had worked in the building a few years ago complained to both the building property manager and our (government) employer. The response was to move her to another building - where conditions turned out to be worse. Go figure!
Dust mites and bed bugs around your bed can also cause asthma-like problems. I replaced my traditional spring coil mattress with a viscose foam one because such pests don't inhabit or survive in them. Keeping the ceiling fan blades clean is also important for controlling the amount of dust swirling about the room. Curtains, window blinds, lampshades, lightbulbs - so many surfaces you don't normally think about vacuuming or cleaning regularly can also pose problems as dust collectors.
These may not be such unusual sources of asthma, but I wonder how many non-asthmatic folks pay attention to these sources of irritation. Not many, judging by buildings and, I'm sorry to say, even some of the cleanest of homes I've been in.
And my least favorite problem: the cat box. I'm allergic to my daughter's cat and can't go near the cat box. Between the animal fur, dander and the litter, it's hard to breathe.
It's absolutely amazing how ordinary things we're surrounded by can be so problematic to our health!
August 13, 2009 - 6:39pmThis Comment
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