Tips to prevent asthma

Heat and humidity are often accompanied by other allergy and asthma attack triggers, like pollen. Find out how to prevent problems in this video with pediatrician Tanya Remer Altmann, M.D.

Transcript

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[MUSIC PLAYING] Is asthma or allergy attack in the forecast? Use these tips to help prevent hot weather breathing problems.

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Hot, hazy, and humid weather makes it hard for many folks to breathe. That's true for very young kids, older folks with harder lung

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problems, and anyone with allergies or asthma. Check the Air Quality Index, or AQI. It measures five pollutants-- ozone, carbon monoxide,

00:33

sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter. An AQI over 150 can trigger breathing problems.

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Stay indoors on high AQI days, and run the air conditioning to help filter the air.

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Stay indoors when pollen count is high. Pollen counts tend to be the highest in the early hours and on hot, dry days.

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Go outside after it rains. Rain washes away lots of pollen, which is good, but stay indoors if you're allergic to mold spores.

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They increase after a rain shower. If you have to go out when it's hot, humid, and hazy, take a shower after you get back,

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put on fresh clothes, and toss worn ones in the laundry to get rid of pollen and pollutants. Keep your asthma meds with you.

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That goes for kids, too. Even if you have no symptoms most of the time, polluted air

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can trigger sudden, scary flare-ups. For more ways to breathe better, check out all our Smart Tips.

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