PREVNTION IS BETTER THAN CURE FOR ASTHMA -----------------------------------------

Clean often: For those of you asthma sufferers who have to do your own cleaning (and cleaning IS important) be sure to wear a dust mask, gloves, grubby clothes and don t use feather dusters. Pick up the dust with a damp cloth and use HEPA fil ters for your vacuum. When you are completed with cleaning, take a shower to was h off the disturbed matter. Use pillows made of synthetic fibers and mattress covers made of impermeable mat erial. Wash them frequently and don t hang them out on a line to be dried where th ey will pick up more pollens and dust. Put pillows in the drier on hot setting o nce a week for 20 minutes especially during allergy season. This helps minimize du st and kills bacteria and molds that just love that warm humid environment creat ed while the patient is sleeping and breathing into the pillow. Wash and change bedding frequently in hot water (130 degrees F or 54 degrees Cel sius) as this kills any dust mites and helps to remove animal dander. I usually recommend that the pillowcases be changed every week. If you can t get your water that hot or you feel that washing them so often in hot water will ruin them anot her option is to freeze the sheets for 24 hours before washing them in warm wate r. Freezing kills the mites but doesn t get rid of the feces. But the washing sho uld do that. Remove from the sleeping area and as many other areas as possible: carpet, uphol stered furniture, soft toys scented candles and pets. If you can t remove the carp et then opt for low-pile carpet. Ditch the shag carpeting. Keep bookcases out of the bedroom. Books often build up dust on them and also ha ve mold spores in them especially in humid environments. Bathe your pets once a week. This greatly decreases the pet dander which exacerb ates the asthma condition. Some pets that are asthma-friendly are poodles and De

von-Rex cats (mostly hairless). And don t use human shampoo to do this it has the wr ong pH and can cause skin problems for the pet. You wouldn t want that. Use a dehumidifier in basement and poorly aerated areas. Damp mop and dust often-at least once a month-to remove dust and molds. We spend about 8 hours/day in the bedroom so be sure to wipe down the bed frame, around the bed and the furniture more often than the rest of the house. Unfortunately, if you back off on any of the cleaning, new dust bunnies will develop and you ll h ave to start all over again. Steam clean existing carpeting and upholstery twice a year to diminish dust mite s, cockroach feces and animal hair/dander. Dust mites need a warm temperature (a bout 70 degrees) and lots of humidity (about 50%) to thrive. Come to think of it that s the perfect environment for fleas to hatch as well! Keep the bathroom door closed while showering and the vent fan on. This prevents increasing humidity in other rooms of the house. Use window shades: Window shades collect less dust than either drapes or blinds. It s a hassle and expensive to wash curtains or blinds on a regular basis. Don t place your bed over a heating vent. If you have to do this then plug the ven t so no air can come through it. You don t want dust coming up through the heating system and you want that vent in an easy place to clean it. Have your heating s ystem vents cleaned about once a year. Use a HEPA (High-efficiency Particulate Air) filter in your vacuum. Watch what you eat: Avoid foods with sulfites and MSG. (see those handouts liste d under the Nutrition section of my website). Often milk (which causes increased phlegm in many blood types), beer, wine, dried fruits, nuts, seafood and proces sed foods are a hidden source of food additives and allergens. I noticed that ev en flour tortillas are preserved with metabisulfites. Even smelling some foods y ou are sensitive to may bring on an attack. Use salt sparingly: Especially table salt. Salt and increased asthma attacks hav e a high correlation. Don t smoke in the house or around an asthma sufferer. If you have asthma, stop sm oking! Louise Hay says that 95% of people who smoke have an unresolved issue wit h either their mother or father. Do your body a favor and resolve the issue and stop taking it out on yourself. Woodstove heat is a no-no. If that is your only heat source then be sure the sto ve and chimney are airtight to reduce particulate matter coming into the room an d be sure to ventilate the rooms that you heat. Eat for your blood type: Gastric reflux can exacerbate asthma. Most all my clien ts who eat for their blood type resolve their GERD issues. The medical system re commends taking an antacid before bedtime. This should be a temporary fix as the re are lots of challenges with antacids (See Antacid handout: http://naturalhea lthtechniques.com/SpecificDiseases/antacids_problems_associated.htm ) Don t wear perfumes, use room deodorizers or use detergents with strong odors. Don t exercise out of doors without a scarf or mask to warm up and humidify the co ld/dry air as you exercise. Breathe through your nose. Take your asthma meds about 15 minutes before exercising. Warm up, start slowly, then be sure to add in a warm down cycle when you exercise. Don t exercise in high humidity. Strangely enough though, swimming is a good exerc ise for asthmatics. Baseball, tennis and golf are also good sports. Be sure to w ash your clothes and hands after golfing though as there are lots of chemicals s prayed on those turfs. Golfers have a very high incidence of cancers. Stay away from people with colds-especially viral in origin. Wash your hands oft en. Don t take aspirin. Try Tylenol (Acetaminophen) instead for pain management but ev en this may be a trigger for some with asthma. Control cockroaches. Clean counters, put food and garbage away and clean up any crumbs if you are in a cockroach area. Also, don t eat in bed. It leaves too many crumbs for those critters. Close windows during warm weather and turn on the air conditioner to control hum idity. Use indoor air filters to control mold spores, tobacco smoke and animal dander.

Avoid outdoor activities when air particulate levels or pollen counts are high. In the car be sure to set the fan or air conditioner on recirculate. You don t nee d extra pollens speeding into the car as you drive down the road. Moving to a different climate doesn t always work these days. Places like Arizona have changed so much over the years that urbanization and irrigation are making the same problems there than where you are right now.