Horrible...alarming news...despite all the advances in medicine! Even though there have been gigantic advances in asthma medications, you still need to be aware of the various side effects.
You may ask yourself if indoor air allergens and contaminants are the main causes. These health changes (for the worse) in the population's defense to asthma, cannot be a result of genetic or bodily causes. Your genetic composition could never change so quickly.
Therefore, it must be the environment in which you live that must have changed for the worse. There is plenty of evidence that tells us it has. In fact, it is airborne pollutants and elements that generally cause asthma attacks and other respiratory problems.
Most people believe it is the air outdoors that presents us, especially those with allergy or asthma sensitivities with the greatest risk. Yet, it is actually the air inside our homes, schools, and other buildings that is most harmful.
Indoor air is much more harmful than outdoor air and verifiable facts prove it. According to the American College of Allergies, 50% of all illness is aggravated or caused by polluted indoor air. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) themselves declare that indoor air is anywhere from 2 to 10 times more hazardous than outdoor air. The EPA also warns us that the indoor air quality epidemic is the nation's number one environmental health problem.
Today's homes and buildings are built air-tight, with energy-efficiency in mind, as a result of the energy crisis of the 1970s. Their air-tight construction keep airborne pollutants trapped inside, and nature's air-cleansing agents outside. Is it any wonder that statistics for asthma problems began rising sharply around the same time that homes and buildings began to be built this way? In fact, a recent study found that the allergen level in super-insulated homes is 200% higher than it is in ordinary homes. According to Scientific America, a baby crawling on the floor inhales the equivalent of 4 cigarettes a day, as a result of the outgassing of carpets, molds, mildews, fungi, and dust mites.
Most people spend well over 90% of their time inside. Therefore, indoor air is going to impact your health far more than outdoor air.
Still believe you are not affected by the indoor air quality epidemic? Virtually everyone is affected, especially asthmatics and others who are particularly sensitive to allergens and contaminants in the air. No home or building is immune to the indoor air quality epidemic.
According to the EPA, 6 out of 10 homes and buildings are "sick", meaning they are hazardous to your health to occupy as a result of airborne pollutants. Even the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) very own headquarters, constructed a few years ago, was determined to be "sick". Many EPA employees could not work inside the building without becoming sick. If the headquarters of the EPA can fall victim to the indoor air quality epidemic, the very government agency that is charged with finding solutions to this problem, then any home or building can be afflicted. In fact, every home and building is affected by the indoor air quality epidemic to various degrees, regardless of how clean it may seem. Every home is filled with prime sources that contribute to mass quantities of airborne allergens and contaminants.
For example, even though your home looks really clean, you should question yourself how it got to be this way. Did you use toxic aerosols, floor and/or furniture polish, bleach, ammonia, bathroom cleaners, etc.? If so, be advised that these products emit harmful chemical vapors into the air.
The Sick Building Syndrome
Most homes or buildings are carpeted, painted, with chemically-treated furnishings. there is dust, insects, moist or damp stuff, food, and people. People? Yes, humans shed more than just about any other animal, but our skin flakes are small enough to float in the air, and are consequently inhaled by anyone who enters a populated room.
For a graphic example, picture a floating ray of sunshine, coming through your window. About 80% of what you see floating in this ray of sunshine is dead human skin! There are additional sources of airborne pollutants that you may bring indoors, such as cigarette smoke and pet dander. Even if you eliminate or prohibit a certain source of indoor air pollution from your home, such as pets, you may still be affected.
To cite an example... a recent study conducted in Philadelphia tested a random sample of homes for the number one allergy trigger: cat dander. Out of all the homes tested, 100% were found to contain cat dander, despite the fact that many of these homes did not have a cat.
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