Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Breathe Better by Taking Vitamin D Study Suggests

Asthma and COPD sufferers seem to be able to stop or to slow the decline of the "human airway muscle" that restricts breathing - simply by taking Vitamin D according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania.

That's great news (thank you We Are Breathless for telling us). For once a low-cost, easy-to-follow option.

Calcitriol, a form of vitamin D synthesized within the body, that can also be administered, can "prevent or forestall the irreversible decline in breathing that leaves many asthmatics even more vulnerable when they suffer an asthma attack."

Friday, May 8, 2009

Breathe Healthy Air in the One Place You Can Control



At least 186 million Americans’ health are in danger from polluted air according to a report issued last month by the American Lung Association.

In fact, “ 60 Percent of Americans Live In Areas Where Air is Dirty Enough to Endanger Lives.”

This is especially bad news for those with respiratory conditions like asthma, emphysema and bronchitis. Some research shows that this level of air pollution also increases risk of heart attacks and strokes.

So it behooves us to ensure that we get clean air in the on place we can control – inside our homes. If you have young children, work at home or are older (lungs have reduced capacity with age) or have respiratory or allergy problems take action.

With the affordable, newer whole home air cleaning systems, you can avoid time-consuming and messy maintenance (just 1 – 2 filter changes a year for a total of no more than 10 minutes). More importantly, unlike room-only air cleaners (who lives in a closed room after all?) and the older air cleaning units, you can now get a continuously high-performing system bolted right onto your hvac system. I recommend a new, non-metallic (no rust, etc.) technology that cam out about 4 years ago called AspenAir Inside.

The key is to remove the tiny, airborne particles that go deep into the lungs, the so-called RSPs.

BTW, “Visalia and Fresno, two mid-size towns in central California ranked high for short-term and year-round particle pollution. Birmingham, Ala., and Cincinnati were listed in the top 10 of metro areas with unhealthy levels of year-round particle pollution. In the Southwest, the Houston, Dallas and Phoenix metro areas had high ozone levels.