People with respiratory issues such as asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) and cancer need to be in relatively clean air and need support in breathing. Traditionally such people use a nebuliser or inhaler to clean the air, something like an air ioniser. Technology has leapt forward in the last few years, and in some places in the world you can even use satellites to tell you if it is too polluted to go outside!
This blog will explore five ways of dealing with respiratory problems in the ultra modern world.
Space Technology
(Source: jhaymesisvip)
The US has satellites which measure air quality from space. The technology is such that they can measure when particles 2/1000th mm (2.5 microns) are in the air. These particles are said to be the perfect size to get in someone’s lungs and cause them problems.
Google has partnered with NASA and the NOAA to create an iPhone and Android app which gives warnings when such particles are of sufficient density in the air to be problematic. It is only available on the East Coast of the US as far west as Kansas – if you are travelling through there or live there, download the app here
Lung Health App
(Source: ubicomplab)
Staying with apps, traditionally, spirometers have been used to measure the health of peoples’ lungs. They are bulky and difficult to move out of a doctor’s surgery or hospital. A new app has been developed which measures the sound of your lungs against the sound of healthy lungs. The difference in sound shows their state of health. For people with diagnosed respiratory problems, they can give a good measurement as to how severe their problems are. All the user needs to do is breathe on their phone and the microphone measures the sound waves generated from the lungs.
Look up the research on Spirosmart here.
Stairlifts
(Source: acornstairlifts)
Getting around for someone with a severe lung problem can be a trial. Short distances can leave them completely out of breath, while going upstairs can be an utter nightmare, leaving them lightheaded and exhausted.
You can get an outdoor stairlift to get around the garden on a sunny day or one indoors to help you get up and down stairs with ease. Consider getting stairlift advice from Acorn.
Sensor for Home Pollution
(Source: yankodesign)
The LULA Lung Lamp is a beautiful device that measures particulates in the air at home. You connect it via a dock to your computer and it gets advice off the Internet as to what to do to clean the air in your home if there are dangerous pollutants that need removing.
Injecting Air into Your Veins?
(Source: stevendepolo)
Scientists at Boston Children’s Hospital have worked out a way of giving someone who can’t breathe, air through their bloodstream using lipid-based microparticles. We all know that injecting air into your veins can cause blood clots or worse – this gets around the problem.
Oxygen is mixed with fatty liquid, and this is injected into the bloodstream. Tests on animals suggest that they will survive up to 15 minutes longer if they are unable to breathe with their lungs. In an operation this could save lives, giving medical teams more time to get someone onto an iron lung if they stop breathing.
Nebuliser
(Source: IrishThoracicSociety)
People with severe respiratory problems need something called a nebuliser which pumps medicine as a fine mist into the lungs, enabling breathing passages to relax and the sufferer to breathe properly again. Traditionally they have only been used in ER’s and in hospital environments, but some people have such bad problems they would never get out of hospital without one.
Nebulisers are now available to be taken home with you. They must be used with support of a respiratory nurse or lung specialist doctor but they give someone the freedom and ability to go home where once they would spend a lot more time in hospital.
Acorn Stairlifts bring you this guest post. Over the last 30 years Acorn have installed 100,000 stairlifts worldwide.