How to have a Healthy Lung Home


October is National Healthy Lung Month in the US, and I thought it would be the perfect time to share how I make my home a Healthy Lung Home. Your lungs are probably one of the most important organs in our body, and if they are not functioning at their peak, the rest of your health and well being is likely to suffer. Most of the time we don't even think about breathing, even though we do so more than 25,000 a day!  While most of what we breathe is oxygen and nitrogen, we also breathe in bacteria and viruses, pollutants, and allergens from the atmosphere in varying amounts.

Nearly 20 million people in the US, over 5 million in the UK and around 2 million here in Australia have asthma. Both my son and I have it, and while mine is well under control, it has taken us a number of years, more than a few hospital stays, and I don't even like to think about how many doctors' visits to finally bring his to a state where I am not perpetually worried every time he has sport at school or of it is an unusually chilly day.

Obviously, medical supervision and, in Stephen's case, medication, are a vital part of his treatment and maintenance. However, there are a large number of things that we can do ourselves to make our home lung healthy to support his treatment.

Dust, pollen, mould, pet dander and chemicals are just some of the allergens that are found in our homes, and breathing them in can cause all sorts of reactions, from mild hay fever through to life threatening asthma. However, by tweaking just a few things in our at-home routines, our indoor air quality can be improved immeasurably.




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