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Doctor’s Senior Exercise & Health Newsletter June 1, 2002 Issue Vol. 2 No. 9 In This Newsletter Introduction Healthfully yours Health Hints Introduction*** The Doctor’s Senior Exercise & Health Newsletter is written bi-weekly, sole for information to help seniors, baby boomers and anyone who may have an interest in staying healthy, living a vigorous, active lifestyle and combating the aging process. The newsletter also includes know-how in the form of useful tips and links to more extensive material on the Internet. It is not meant to prescribe treatments for any particular condition except as something that the individual may wish to discuss with their healthcare professional. Website: http://www.doctorsexercise.com How to subscribe: Click Newsletter on left menu at website for more info and to subscribe or browse directly to: http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/dsenews E-Mail address: newsletter@doctorsexercise.com The Doctor’s Senior Exercise Newsletter strives to give you the best available news that we hope will help you in your efforts to maintain a vigorous, pain-free and happy lifestyle. However, you should always seek advice from your healthcare professional before trying any new treatments that you feel may help you. Discussing your intentions with your doctor is always the proper procedure. Healthfully Yours*** IS YOUR HOME SICK? Speak to the average individual about air pollution and they will tell you how our outdoor air quality has been compromised over the years, due to automobiles, industrial air pollution and environmental causes, such as, grasses and pollens. They won’t be wrong concerning this pollution of our environment, but what they don’t do, is equate the sick environments found in their own homes as being possibly worse and more important to their health considering the amount of time spent there and the fact that they sleep there. The air pollution found in our homes can be as bad and probably even worse than that found outdoors. Living in a shuttered environment that does not allow the free circulation of air, places a tremendous strain on our respiratory systems. It will mostly affect infants, the elderly and those with impaired immune systems. Our homes are sickened by an enormous bombardment of pollutants, so much so that our indoor air environment can be 100 times worse than the air quality outdoors. The sources of indoor pollutants are chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). They are the pollutants that release gases and particles into the air. These VOCs are found in many of the fabrics, rugs, dry cleaned clothing and drapes. Other sources are tobacco smoke, which is the number one pollutant, paint products, paint removers and strippers and cleaning products, pesticides, laundry detergents, etc. Other pollutants can be found in our cooling and heating systems and in our chlorinated water systems. Household pets, as much as we love them, are great contributors to indoor pollutants because of the pet dander they shed. Insects, such as cockroaches also add to the pollutants. The use of aerosol hairsprays, deodorizers and cleaners will also add to our sickened environments. The above are not the only contributors to poor home air quality. An extremely serious form of pollutants can be molds. Molds are formed wherever there is dampness, such as the bathroom, shower and laundry room. If a leak occurs anywhere in the roof, the water will find it’s way into the inner walls and molds will take hold and proliferate if not stopped. These molds will send spores into the air, which we breathe and eventually cause a serious respiratory problem for whoever comes in contact with them. We have mentioned many of the contributors to the cause of making our home air environment polluted; yet there are still others. Indoor fireplaces and gas burning stoves contribute also to the contamination of the home air environment. Fireplaces continuously build-up soot, a source of contanimints that need to be cleaned on a regular basis. They also have to be properly vented to the outdoors, and many are not. Some homes are situated in areas where Radon gas in the ground can invade the home atmosphere. These homes should be tested for the presence of Radon gas. There are test kits that are relatively inexpensive and you can do this yourself. Even if Radon gas were not found, it would be wise to install an inexpensive Radon gas detector for continuous monitoring. Radon gas is insidious and can seep into the home at anytime. Anyone exhibiting any of the following respiratory distress symptoms should not only see their healthcare provider, but would do well to call an environmental professional to have their home inspected. 1. Increased difficulty in breathing. 2. A constant feeling of fatigue. 3. Difficulty in sleeping and the feeling you want to sit-up to sleep. 4. Pains in chest due to labored breathing. 5. Increased shortness of breath on exertion. 6. Coughing excessively and wheezing. 7. An increase of sputum with changes in the character of the sputum. 8. Signs of blood when bringing up sputum. 9. Night sweats, or chills and fever. How then do we combat this hostile environment in our homes? Read below in the Health Hints. Health Hints*** Improving the environmental pollution of your home requires an aggressive approach. Each room must be thoroughly inspected, even the cellar and attic if you have them. Apartments and condominiums are no different. If you don’t have an attic, you have a crawl space and that too must be inspected. Use a pad and pencil. Write down the room you are starting in, and start your inspection, jotting down the things that need to be corrected. THE KITCHEN: Open each cabinet and check to see if you have any detergents, cleaning materials, or any other chemicals. Items that you are not using, or haven’t used for a long time, should be discarded. Place these items aside in one location to be disposed of later. When finished with the upper cabinets, start on the lower cabinets and repeat the same procedure. Ant items to be disposed of are to be placed with the other items. When all the items have been evaluated and you decide what you will keep, place the remaining items in one cabinet. Generally, it will be the cabinet under the sink. This cabinet should have a lock so that it can be secured, especially if you have children or grandchildren that visit you. THE BATHROOM: Check to see if there are any moist or rusted areas on the tile, walls, toilet rim or floor. See if there are areas where mold is forming. Any of these signs can indicate a water leak within the wall. With any of these signs, you may wish to consult with a professional plumber or a construction specialist. If there are no water leaks, you still must remove any mold that has accumulated on the tile, floor or toilet rim. There are sprays sold that will remove mold, but here again you will just be adding more chemicals into your homes’ environment. Instead of using a spray, make your own solution by adding one cup of white vinegar to a half gallon of water. You will find that this will work just as well. Using this solution on a monthly basis will keep your bathroom mold-free and sparkling. THE MASTER BEDROOM: In the bedroom open your medicine cabinet. (In some home homes the medicine cabinet may be in the bathroom). Wherever the cabinet is, you need to inspect all your medicines, both prescription and over the counter items. Those that are unlabeled, no longer being used or with outdated expiration dates, should be thrown out. Check perfumes, bath salts or powders and fragrances that are no longer being used, or smell rancid, and discard those. When you decide what you will keep, place the prescription and the over the counter medications in one location. All the other items can be placed in the under-sink cabinet as you did in the kitchen, and should be secured to prevent children from being able to open it. The next step is to thoroughly clean the bedroom itself. Start by stripping the bed of all linens, sheets, pillowcases, mattress covers, blankets, shams, etc. Wash them in hot water, using an environmentally safe detergent. While the linens are being washed, vacuum the entire room thoroughly, starting with the bed, under the bed and turning the mattress. Be sure to vacuum the box spring, top and bottom as well. Complete the vacuuming by doing the drapes and carpeting. If not carpeted, vacuum the floor anyway, paying attention to the corners. Washing the bed linens should be done twice weekly, or at least on a weekly basis at a minimum. Vacuuming the entire room as above should be done monthly. THE CELLAR: A thorough inspection will be for water leaks, mold accumulation and insect infestation. The heating and cooling systems must be inspected as well. What is the condition of the filters? When have they been changed last? Filters need to be changed monthly. Designate a day to change filters so that you will remember to change them on that day on a monthly basis. Next, inspect the whole area for all the things you have accumulated. Cans of paint, paint thinners, paint strippers and all other chemicals that have not been used for months, will probably never be used. Place these in one area to be discarded. These will need to be disposed of in a proper way at a chemical disposal site. Each city usually has one, and they may have special dates for pick-up. THE ATTIC: In the attic first check to see if there are areas of exposed fiberglass insulation. These areas should be covered with wallboard to keep them from being exposed to the air. An attic fan will pick up fiberglass particles and distribute them throughout the home. Be sure to clean and vacuum the attic fan as well. The attic is notoriously used as a storage area for items that have been accumulated over the years. These items just gather dust that eventually ends up in the home. Throw away or dispose of those items you will no longer need or want. Dust and vacuum those items you are keeping and throw a sheet or plastic cover over them. Vacuum the entire floor, ceiling, paying particular attention to the corners. Now that you have gone through the house with a fine toothcomb, so to speak, it will be up to you to do preventative maintenance on a regular basis. Performing this maintenance will not take as long, because the initial cleaning out of the not needed items was already done. In all of the above we haven’t addressed the issue of pets. As a pet lover, I am not advocating you get rid of your pets. You will however need to be more aggressive in vacuuming the areas they use on a more frequent basis. Dogs need to be bathed often and cats should be brushed regularly and even bathed from time to time. This will keep animal dander at a minimum. Maintaining environmentally clean air in your home is a daunting task. There are units that will help filter the air. It is not always feasible to install a central air filter because the cost can be prohibitive. However, do think of using individual units for the rooms that are most often lived in. The single most important room to place and air filtering unit is the bedroom. Using a good air-filtering unit in your bedroom will allow for a better night’s sleep. You can get more information on air pollution and what to do to combat it by going to these websites: www.epa.gov www.lungusa.org Doc Cane NOTE: I am presently researching Air Filtering units. When I find a Company that I think is producing a unit that is performing the required filtration of the air, I hope to add that company to my website so that all my loyal viewers will have access to that product. Please check www.doctorsexercise.com from time to time to see if I have found the right product. Copyright, Disclaimer, and Trademark information
Copyrightã 1997-2002 Emanuel M.
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