Now showing: Winter-related topics! Check this site often for new tips and facts about allergies
and asthma.
- A little more hectic pace, stress at work, home or school, less rest and early winter viruses, all increase the likelihood of sinus congestion problems in susceptible individuals. You are more exposed to dust and mold allergies and indoor pollutants now that doors and windows are closed and you have turned on the heating system. With better understanding of sinus function and its relation to allergies, we now can relieve sinus problems for most of you.
- 50% of the time, viruses travel via hand-to-hand contact, not coughs and sneezes. Shaking hands or sharing a telephone can transfer live viruses efficiently.
- On a typical school day, over 10,000 students in this country are absent due to problems related to allergic rhinitis.
- In Western North Carolina, trees begin to pollinate first in the late winter (sometimes beginning in February!), followed by grasses in the late spring and early summer, and weeds in the late summer and early fall. The varied elevations of our beautiful mountains make each pollen’s season longer than in flatter areas.
- Flu season is coming up. Now is the time to get a flu vaccine if you have a chronic respiratory problem such as asthma, recurrent bronchitis, or emphysema. The flu vaccine can help prevent influenza, which can cause severe complications in those patients with respiratory disorders. The vaccine is available at the office of your family physician, pediatrician, or internist.
- Emergency room visits for severe asthma flare-ups have been correlated with high levels of outdoor mold spores in several medical studies.
- And all through the house, not a creature was stirring except….twenty million House Dust Mites.
- Exercise in cold, dry air, such as cross-country skiing, is more likely to exacerbate your asthma than is exercise in warm, humid weather, such as swimming.
- Besides allergies, viral infections such as colds and the flu are among the most common triggers of asthma flare-ups.
- The common cold is caused by a virus for which there is no antibiotic treatment. Colds may cause nasal drainage to be discolored for several days, but typically resolve on their own. Antibiotics are only helpful in cases when a cold becomes complicated by a bacterial sinus infection. Symptoms persisting more than 7 to 10 days suggest the possibility of a sinus infection.
- As colder weather approaches, be careful not to over-humidify your home, since an indoor humidity of greater than 50% fosters the growth of allergy-causing dust mites and mold.