Emphysema worsens with humidity Posted: 06-25-07 15:05pm
Hi, my father who is 78 has had emphysema
for atleast 5 years. During those 5 years
I have noticed his breathing has become
worse. The breathing becomes worse when
the humidity is high, or becomes stressed.
He takes special inhaler steroids and
puffers. Here are my questions.
1) Humidity in the UK is quite high, how
do I control the humidity within the house
to the correct levels for emphysema?
2) Are there any new emphysema medications
in the UK?
3) What are the best breathing exercises
for emphysema?
4) what are the best foods for
emphysema?
5) Will oxygen help relieve his
breathing?
Any advise would be very much
appreciated.
Kind regards,
John Bartlett
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EklipseX
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 15 Jun 2007 Posts: 102 Location: Dallas, TX
Thanks: 1
Thanked:0
Posted: 06-25-07 15:23pm
Well unfortunately I believe there is no
simple cure for emphysema, other than
maybe a lung transplant. To control
humidity, buy one or two dehumidifiers and
put one maybe in his room and another in
the kitchen or something, these suck the
water vapor out of the air. If he caught
emphysema from smoking, he needs to quit
immideatly as once he quits the emphysema
will progress MUCH slower than if he still
smoked. That's all i've got hope it helps
some. Good luck
Eklipse
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Llewellyn
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 1743 Location: NY
Posted: 06-25-07 15:25pm
I agree. You could get a dehumidifier or
two. Make sure he does not smoke, and
make sure no one around him smokes. As
far as the other stuff goes, I think
talking to his doctor would be your best
bet.
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Rickman
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Jun 2007 Posts: 1 Location: Maine
Posted: 06-28-07 17:00pm
I have COPD/Severe,Emphysema etc. from a
near drowning accident in 1987 and have
gotten a lot worse over the years and
there is not much you can really do except
as said above (lung transplant etc) but
there are a few things that sometimes help
keep people comfortable,but the best thing
for humidity (hot days,humid etc.) is A/C
the best thing,I would die without our A/C
we can not go anywhere without it in the
vehicle and cant go anywhere that doesnt
have it like stores etc. but I pretty much
go from my A/C house to A/C car to more
A/C places if I have things to do on those
days or stay inside in my Air conditioned
house on those humid days! its not fun at
all! it feels like someone sitiing on you
and witha pillow over your house and in an
oven all at the same time,take it from
someone with 25 % of lungs that work.and
Im as close to a transplant as you can
get pretty much but still too scared to
take even a leap to be on a list! but
anyway stay in A/C on humid days! thats
the best thing anyone including doctors
will tell you. Good luck!!! take care
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hobie
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 May 2008 Posts: 7
Posted: 05-13-08 01:34am
My mother has emphysema and is on oxygen.
The oxygen helps her very much. Without
it she can't get enough oxygen to her
organs. A breathing excercise she does
often is to try to slowly blow out all
the air out of her lungs several times a
day. With emphysema the real problem is
the lungs hold the air in and don't push
it out well to breath in new fresh air.
Hummidity bothers her as well. Air
conditioning helps.
