Air Purifier Systems and Asthma
If you have read “Asthma Part I” in this series of articles, you know that ClearFlite Air Purifiers recommends that you find an excellent asthma specialist to help you develop a comprehensive action plan to prevent asthma attacks if you know you're asthmatic. If you're unsure, we suggest you find a doctor to diagnose you. ClearFlite is experienced and skilled in recommending air purifier solutions that you and your doctor may think are important to your respiratory health.
Determining what the triggers are that cause your personal asthma attacks or worse, those of your children (parents of asthmatic children experience the gripping fear right along with their children who can't breathe), is an important step in the process of living with asthma. The determination includes not only zeroing in on what the triggers are but where you are when the attacks occur, and the time of day and the season. Many of our ClearFlite customers tell us their attacks occur in the night when the respiratory system, along with the rest of the body has slowed, which is often the period that seems most unlikely. Triggers in the bedroom which can lead to the attack include dander from dogs or cats, a wide variety of allergens, pollen (particularly in the spring), and dust or chemicals. These are the airborne toxins that quality air purifier products are particularly good at eliminating. Air purifier solutions for the bedroom though, must cover the whole range of irritants, not just dust. Many people think dust is the problem, but often dust particles are so large they don't get breathed in anyway; it is the more microscopic allergens that slip past the protective cilia in our noses and sinuses that cause the problems.
Like people who keep track of what they are eating to determine where they can cut calories, asthmatic sufferers should keep track of what they are breathing. First start with the bedroom and do a study of the air quality. Do your allergy attacks happen there? If so, there are things that should be eliminated. First and foremost is smoke of any kind from tobacco, wood burning, even candles. Smoke is deadly to asthmatics. Next, no matter how beloved, are pets. Asthmatics do not do well sleeping with animals. Pets shed, lick their fur which dries into a fine dust, and drag in allergens on their paws. If you must have pets in the bedroom, at least keep them out of the bed and run an air purifier 24 hours a day placed near the pet bed. Check that the air purifier you purchase is appropriate for pet dander and by-products.
Continuing your study of the bedroom (this same process can be applied to any living or working area), consider the pollens. Are the windows kept open? Are their flowering trees or other pollen-heavy plantings outside the windows? If so, it might be better to close them if possible, or at least during peak pollen times which are now reported on most television stations or on weather.com. If you leave the windows open during the day, close the windows and the door an hour before you sleep and run your air purifier on the highest speed to clean out those pollens.
Lastly, consider the carpeting, upholstery, and bedding. Dust mites, chemicals, and a range of other allergens can find home in them. Remove the carpeting if possible or clean it often, vacuum the upholstery, wash the bedding in hot water weekly. Always run your air purifier on high for a couple of hours after cleaning to remove the new particles and chemicals in the air.
Step by step, by eliminating these toxins from the air, and running an air purifier all the time, you will make the bedroom a safe harbor from asthma attacks. This same evaluation and clean-up of other areas in the home and workplace will also help. Along the way you will begin to understand more about your personal asthma triggers and times of vulnerability. Air purifiers can assist in reducing the symptoms.
