By Sarah Borroum
WebMD’s experts estimate that over 17 million Americans suffer from asthma. If you or someone living in your home is one of those people, you know that it’s important to find and eliminate as many triggers as possible.
When an asthma patient is exposed to an irritant – cigarette smoke, for example – his or her lungs constrict. Breathing is almost impossible. Though inhalers and other treatments will usually halt the attack, it’s better to avoid triggering the problem.
You might think that you’ve found all the problems, but there are some triggers that aren’t very obvious. Search your home for potential issues and solve them as quickly as possible so that the asthma patient in your house can breathe easily.
1.) Make your home a no-smoking zone. Smoke of any variety, from cigarettes to pipes, usually irritates an asthma patient’s lungs. Take the tobacco outside: designating one “smoking room” might not help much, especially if your ventilation system links the different rooms together (thereby allowing smoke to travel from your smoking room to the asthma patient’s bedroom).
2.) Check your fireplace or wood-burning stove. Make sure that the vents funnel the smoke – and accompanying byproducts, which are also irritants – outside.
3.) Vent everything that burns any sort of fuel. Propane heaters, for example, should be used near open windows. (You don’t have to throw the window wide open; a crack will work.) You should also use the vent fan over your stove when you cook.
4.) Get rid of dust mites. You should wash, vacuum or steam-clean all bedding, stuffed animals and furniture. You can also use hypo-allergenic dust covers and slip clothes over your sofa and armchairs.
5.) Make friends with your duster. Even small amounts of dust can make people miserable. Dust frequently – about once a week – with a duster that traps the particles instead of merely moving them around. The latter will just stir up the dust and trigger an attack – or, at the very least, a sneezing fit while you’re trying to clean.
6.) Store off-season or rarely-used items in sealed containers. If you won’t be wearing your winter coat for a few months, pack it up and store it securely. This prevents dust from collecting, but also reduces the amount of stuff you’ll have to clean every week or two.
7.) Take care of your pets. A cat’s dander can trigger asthma attacks, as can a dog’s saliva. If you feel bad about putting Bowser outside, make sure that he stays off the furniture – especially in the asthma sufferer’s room.
8.) Destroy the roaches and mice. Their droppings, as well as their dead bodies, can cause serious asthma attacks. Keeping the kitchen and bathroom super-clean will help. You should also consult a pest-control expert for information on tracking down other sources of infestation.
9.) Get rid of mold. Check the bathroom: one of the most common breeding grounds for mold and mildew. Keeping mold-prone places dry and clean will prevent most re-infestations. Many mold problems come from leaky faucets or cracked water lines: things that you might not know about. Do a thorough check of your home and repair these problems as soon as possible.
10.) Use fewer chemicals. Household cleaning products – especially oven cleaner, ammonia and bleach – are very harsh. Even people without asthma have problems breathing around these products, so use them as infrequently as possible. If that’s not an option, try to clean when the asthma sufferer isn’t going to be home for a couple of hours.
11.) Consider investing in an indoor air purifier. Do your research before you plunk down half a grand for a system that might not do anything but drain your bank account. Talk to other asthma sufferers; they should have recommendations and personal experience to help you out. You can also visit consumer-review Web sites for reviews from users all over the world.
12.) Pay attention to pollen and allergy information on the daily news. This index rating will tell you how safe your asthma patient will be if he or she goes outside that day. You can also use this rating to decide if you should open your windows for some fresh air or keep them closed and turn on the central heating/cooling system instead.
Once you remedy these troublesome areas, the asthma attacks should decrease in number as well as severity. You should also consult the treating physician or any other medical experts who are familiar with the patient in question. They’ll be able to offer further suggestions and advice.
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