Asthma And Humidity

Heat Wave Especially Horrible for People with Certain Illnesses

Besides being hot and sticky, Lisa McDavid of Drexel, N.C., said, "I get really tired, can't breathe out of my nose and my chest starts hurting."

McDavid suffers from seasonal allergies , a deviated septum and mitral valve prolapse, a condition that causes one of the heart valves to not close properly.

"When it's hot but not that humid, I can stand being outside a little longer, but when it's humid, I feel like I'm suffocating."

McDavid certainly isn't the only one suffering from the adverse effects of heat on her health. With about half the country baking in a heat wave , hospitals in some of the worst-hit areas are reporting cases of people coming into emergency rooms with heat-related illnesses. Many expect more as the heat wave continues.

And many cases don't necessarily involve heat stroke or heat exhaustion.

"We do not see a lot of hot people but rather people with diseases, alcohol, drugs, old age and disability whose conditions are worsened by the heat," said Dr. James Adams, professor and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Very high heat and humidity can affect everyone, but experts say in addition to children and the elderly, people with the medical conditions that follow are especially susceptible to heat-related illness.

Allergy and asthma specialists say they are seeing more patients whose illnesses have been triggered by the heat and humidity as well as by increased levels of pollutants in the air.

"[We] have seen many new patients for the first time with a diagnosis of asthma made worse by heavy pollens and extreme temperature and humidity levels," said Dr. Clifford Bassett, medical director of Asthma & Allergy Care of New York.

Bassett also said that in addition to pollen, mold levels increase when it's very humid.

The heat wave is also causing more serious breathing problems, including very severe asthma attacks and a worsening of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). At Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, several patients needed emergency treatment for both these conditions. One of them even needed a breathing tube.

"Both of these patients had air conditioning -- room air conditioning, not the whole house -- and were using it, yet it wasn't enough to prevent the heat from exacerbating their symptoms," said Dr. Alvin Wang, an emergency room physician at Temple.

Asthma and Humidity « National Nursing & Rehab

And the intrinsic asthma. Humidity is the culprit for intrinsic asthma. Let’s see how humidity exerts its influence over asthma symptoms.

The main enemies for people with asthma are heat and humidity. The combined action of these two reduces the amount of air intake into the lungs of asthma patients. Increase in heat promotes the growth of molds that in turn act as allergens initiating the symptoms of asthma.

Another fact is that increase in external temperature automatically increases body temperature, and that in turn increases the body metabolism which demands more oxygen. In asthma patients, meeting increased demands of oxygen is a nightmare. On the other hand, the humidity reduces the body temperature which even makes body to hard to increase the temperature. Whatever the case, increased rate of metabolism increases the oxygen demand. As can be seen from the above discussion, heat and humidity increase the demand for oxygen and the change in environmental conditions like the increased mold growth, altogether trigger the asthma attack. Humid air with more water content is heavier making it hard for the asthma patients to breathe.

It has been observed that people who remain in air-conditioned rooms for long time cannot cope up with external temperatures, and can become easily susceptible to asthma when exposed to extremes of temperatures. However, if the asthma symptoms are worse and cannot be controlled it is recommended to stay in air-conditioned rooms to gain control over the condition. Make sure to maintain a humidity level of 30-50 percent. It is highly dangerous for the asthmatic patients to remain in environments where the humidity levels are above 80 percent. The increasing environment pollution that increases the temperature is increasing the number of asthma cases.

Another theory that confirms the worse effect of humid air in asthma patients is that humid air reduces the amount of negative ions in the air that generally ease the process of breathing. Hence, it is recommended that asthmatic patients should purchase a humidifier that does not generate negative ions as they attach to the water molecules and generate positive ions that toughen the task of breathing.

Most of asthmatic patient consider moving away from worse climatic conditions, like moving from hot to humid climates and vice-versa helps to obtain relief from asthma symptoms. But the worst part is that even the hot air with increased mold growth irritates the air passages. Hence, the only solution to combat the effects of heat and humidity by asthmatic patients should be in strict medications. Under scheduled usage of medicines, the asthma patients can enjoy the sunny days playing outdoor games like football.

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