The Breathing Zone is AllergyZone's web resource center, providing useful information, tips, articles, research and links. We want you to breathe easier.

James L. Sublett MD, FACAAI

• No smoking inside the home at any time.
• Measure the indoor humidity and keep it below 50%. Do not use vaporizers or humidifiers. You may need a dehumidifier. Use vent fans in bathrooms and when cooking to remove moisture.
• Repair all water leaks.
• Remove wall-to-wall carpets from the bedroom if possible. Use a central vacuum or a vacuum with a HEPA filter regularly. Remember it takes over 2 hours for the dust to settle back down.
• Keep pets out of the bedroom at ALL times. Use a HEPA Air Cleaner in the bedroom with an adequate CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) for the size of the room.
• Encase mattresses and pillows with “mite-proof” covers; Wash all bed linens regularly using hot water.
• Install a high efficiency media filter with a MERV rating of 12 (AllergyZoneTM) in the furnace and air-conditioning unit.
• Leave the fan on to create a “whole house” air filter that removes particles that may cause allergies.
• Change the filter every three months (with the change of the seasons) to keep the air cleaner year round.
• Have your heating and air-conditioning units inspected and serviced every six months.
• Vent gas appliances and fireplaces to the outside and maintained regularly.

• Use disposable furnace filters -washables cannot be cleaned and dried adequately, the electrodes in electronic filters must be cleaned monthly.
• Use the best performing and most durable filter available anywhere, the AllergyZone MERV 12 Furnace Filter - the MOST effective filter for allergy sufferers.
• Use of the AllergyZone Furnace Filter creates a whole-house filter that removes more than 95% of allergy-causing particles from your air.
• Change your filter at least every three months--the beginning of each season can be a reminder or, better still, subscribe to AllergyZone Home Delivery and a new filter will arrive every three months.
• Never use the typical, old-fashioned cheap blue fiberglass or hogs' hair filters-not only do the fibers of the filters fragment, if they have MERV ratings, the ratings are so low the filters are virtually useless.
• Run the blower fan at all times to maintain continuous air filtration and avoid accumulations from settled dust and other particles.
• Use the correct size filter for your system. The filter should slide in and out easily- forcing a filter into place can crimp or tear its frame and create an air by-pass route around the filter media.
• Duct tape the opening if the filter slot does not have a cover.
• Before installing the AllergyZone MERV 12 furnace filter during air conditioning seasons, make sure wet, moldy liners and coils are cleaned and dried.
• Make sure the blower cabinet has a closed bottom; if it is open to concrete or other moisture-holding flooring, the filter's effectiveness will be impaired.

[Back to Top]

By Anthony J. Brown, MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) A heat exchange mask, designed to improve comfort in cold temperatures, also seems to protect against asthma triggered by breathing cold, dry air, according to a report in the medical journal Chest. Asthma occurs when the airways tighten, limiting breathing. Cold, dry air is one of the most common triggers of an asthma attack.

The Qxtec Personal Respiratory Heat Exchanger, marketed by Louisville, Kentucky-based AllergyZone, works by conserving the heat and humidity of exhaled air and applying it to inhaled air. As such, the device does not require batteries.

'The mask was originally designed to make breathing more comfortable' for people working or playing in cold environments, lead author Dr. David A. Beuther, from the University of Colorado at Denver, told Reuters Health. 'We decided to study the mask's use for cold exercise-induced asthma after the manufacturer came to us describing asthmatic patients who reported improvements with the device.'

In the first part of the study, 13 patients with cold exercise-induced asthma completed treadmill tests while breathing cold air through a real or fake heat mask. Although the cold air caused lung function to worsen in both groups, the effect was much less pronounced in the group given real heat masks.

In the second part of the study, five patients breathed cold air and then performed three treadmill tests with the heat mask, with the airway-opening drug albuterol, or without either intervention. The mask and albuterol appeared to be comparable in preserving lung function.

Beuther said that he believes the manufacturer is planning to approach the US Food and Drug Administration to seek an asthma indication for the device. He emphasized that he envisions the mask as an addition to drug therapy for patients who have cold exercise-induced asthma, 'not a replacement.'

SOURCE: Chest, May 2006.

[Back to Top]

Cold air creates a dangerous situation of rapid heat loss, which may arise in any individual exposed cold temperatures at both an active and resting state. An individual gains body heat from food and muscular activity and loses it through convection, conduction, radiation and sweating to maintain a constant body temperature. When body temperature drops even a few degrees below its normal temperature of 98.6F (37C), the blood vessels constrict, decreasing peripheral blood flow to reduce heat loss from the surface of the skin. Shivering generates heat by increasing the body's metabolic rate. During cold weather about 60 percent of a person's body fuel is used to heat the body. When exposed to frigid temperatures, particularly for extended periods of time, a person will tire easily, and exposed skin will cool rapidly. This is prime breeding ground for the dangerous effects of the cold, hypothermia and frostbite.

[Back to Top]