Archive for January, 2009

26
Jan

How to Reduce Indoor Air Pollutants

   Posted by: author1    in Allergies, Health and Fitness

Believe it or not, the air inside modern homes can be upwards of five times more contaminated than outside air. When you also take into account that we can spend up to ninety percent of our lives indoors, the term sick building syndrome should require little explanation.

Unlike outdoor air, inside air is recycled over and over with pollutants like tobacco smoke, pollen, mold, dust and pet dander all adding towards allergy induced asthma and allergies.

Other symptoms of sick building syndrome include dizziness, head aches, tickly throats, sinus congestion, itchy or watery eyes, sickness, lethargy and an lack of concentration.  Certain immediate effects are similar to those from colds or other viral diseases, so it is often hard to determine if the symptoms are a result of exposure to indoor air pollution.

If you notice that the symptoms lessen or even vanish when you are outside, it is a strong possibility that poor air quality inside your home is the problem. If that is the case, there are some things that you can do to all but get rid of the potential causes and breathe a little easier.

Here are several tips for improving inside air quality in your house.

Do Not Smoke Indoors

Even though this may sound obvious, you should effectively ban smoking within your home or at least restrict it to one room. In our case, any friends or family that visit are limited to the kitchen area or the back garden if they want to smoke. In the kitchen, an extractor fan drives the smoky air outside as it does with cooking smells.

Ventilate Regularly

Weather permitting, you should open windows and doors in order to lower the concentrations of indoor pollutants while allowing outdoor air to come in. If you have bathroom or kitchen extractor fans, use them on a regular basis. You should also routinely clean the vents in the extractors and make sure they work correctly.

Throw Those Chemical Cleaners

If you have ever taken the time to interpret the labels on household cleaning products, most of them will include a warning about how harmful the chemicals are for your health or skin. Each time you use that product, fumes from whatever is in the bottle get released into the air for you to breathe in. I have quite often started coughing after spraying counter tops with so called anti-bacterial cleaner. Personally, I have taken the enviromentally friendly route to home cleaning. Baking soda, washing soda crystals, white vinegar and pure lemon juice will work wonders for most cleaning tasks. They are not only cheaper but they also do not release any toxic fumes into your house.

Keep you House Clean and free of dust

Hoovering your carpets and floors regularly will help to keep dust and airborne allergens at bay. It is said (although I have no proof) that some seventy percent of all household dust is composed of dead skin, which we humans shed day in and day out. Dust mites in turn feed upon this dead skin that falls from our bodies. They then grow and shed their own skin and it is this together with their feces that causes allergic reactions in people.

Pet Dander Allergies

For those folks with a cat, dog or other pet, allergies such as asthma attacks can be set off by their dander, which they shed day in and day out. Something needs to be done if you suspect that either you or another family member are allergic to pet dander. Ideally, it is best to keep pets out of the home completely although that is rarely possible. As a viable alternative, try and restrict the rooms that the pet is allowed into. One definite area to keep them out of is the bedroom.

Reduce Indoor Air Humidity

Living in a damp climate or an area of high humidness can both result in moisture levels in the house increasing dramatically. A consequence of excessive moisture is the growth of mold and mildew. For anybody with extreme allergic reactions, mold spores are as bad, if not worse, than dust. Dehumidifiers can be a godsend in a humid environment because they are able to remove excess moisture from the surrounding air, thereby keeping mold and the resulting spores at bay.

Get an Indoor Air Purifier

Home air purifiers are units that clean indoor air of allergens, such as mold spores, pollen and pet dander.  They are especially useful if you or a family member suffers from allergic reactions or asthma because they can reduce airborne contaminants by a considerable amount.  Air purifiers and room air cleaners are rapidly increasing in popularity because they make indoor air healthier and cleaner. However, there are different types of air purifier, some of which can actually make allergies worse instead of better.

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Teen Pregnancy

Having a child is a blessing, and the moment you have them you start thinking of their future, thinking of their growth into adolescence, becoming grade A students, getting a successful career and good family or something like that. You would hardly ever think of your teenage daughter getting an unplanned pregnancy because they decided to have unprotected sex as teens. It is not likely that you would ever suspect your child to be having sex unless you discover condoms or home pregnancy kits laying in the trash can or in their rooms. You can however get a grasp of whether your children are having sex, and be able to teach them on how to prevent unplanned teen pregnancy by talking to them about it and educating them about it’s dangers. Let them know that all their future plans will be put on hold if they do happen to have an unplanned teen pregnancy. This could possibly that their high school diploma or their future careers and plans would be put on hold. Having an unplanned teen pregnancy is certain to change a young girl’s life in dramatic fashion and this could be permanent. Even the life of young men are known to change in much the same vein as they will need to be financially responsible at a very young age as they support their young wife and child. Educate your child and teach him or her that unplanned teen pregnancy is preventable and that it should be avoided at all costs.

Birth Control

When it comes to birth control there are many options available, and these can prevent unplanned teen pregnancy. To start with, there’s the shot, the UID, the condoms, the birth control pills and then there’s the morning after pill. With so many options, you would think that unplanned teen pregnancy wouldn’t be such an issue. Yet the unplanned teen pregnancy epidemic is growing exponentially. More and more young women are getting pregnant and it’s mostly from lack of education. Educate your child about these methods of birth control, teach them to make use of them and that they are always available, in case times arise that sex is unavoidable.

Make Smart Choices

Educate your child that if they are ever in the situation that will have sex, to first assess the situation and think about it before proceeding. This is not going to be easy as sexual desire can easily cloud the mind as far as rational thinking goes. But it can be done. Teach your child that they are about to engage in an activity that could result in an unplanned teen pregnancy. Don’t teach your child that sex is wrong, quite the contrary, but teach them that they should be smart about the sex they do have. Teens are going to have sex. That’s a fact. The more you educate your teen, however, and the more you discuss with them how much their lives will change with an unplanned teen pregnancy, the less likely you’ll be faced with raising a baby having a baby.

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As professionals better understand the problem, there are more and more solutions being offered.  One of those may be a sleep apnea pillow, which is gaining popularity with those who try it.

You’ve probably already heard the term sleep apnea, which refers to the stoppage of breathing during sleep.  There are many reasons for this but like with snoring, it can happen when a person is sleeping on their back and the mouth falls open.  This can cause the tongue to fall over the throat and block the air passages or the fatty tissue in the back of the mouth to do the same.  A  sleep apnea pillow is designed to keep a person from sleeping on their back so that these conditions don’t occur.

In the past patients that snore or are affected by sleep apnea were told to put a tennis ball on their back so that if they roll onto their back they will feel uncomfortable forcing them to roll back to their side.Just imagine how painful this can be!A sleep apnea pillow is capable of holding the head and back in a comfortable position since it is a large foam type pillow.  There are many different varieties from which to choose; some are like regular pillows and wrap around the head and neck to keep it from turning.

Another type of sleep apnea pillow is one that wraps around the midsection and back to keep a person sleeping on their side.It has the same effect as the tennis ball method but it is far more comforting.At the end of the day would you rather have a cold hard tennis ball digging into your back or a soft and firm sleep apnea pillow sleep apnea pillow supporting you.Most people prefer the pillow!  It won’t interrupt your sleep and will keep you comfortable all night as well.

There is also another type of sleep apnea pillow that works with a CPAP machine.  This pillow has inserts in which you can nestle the hoses for the CPAP machine, making it easier and more comfortable to use.  If you use a CPAP machine you may want to consider a sleep apnea pillow with it as well to keep you comfortable and the hoses out of your way.

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