Will it save her?

[Tar Devil]

My mother suffers from a lung disorder called COPD.
American Lung Association (http://www.lungusa.org/diseases/copd_factsheet.html)

We've almost lost her twice with bouts of pneumonia, and the Dr.'s don't think she'll survive another such illness. In the past two weeks her cough has gotten persistantly worse (I honestly don't know how, since it seems she's been coughing 24/7 for the last 30 years), and Dad is beside himself with worry.

He's thinking of selling their house and making a quick move to Arizona or some other arid locality, thinking it will arrest the cough and keep Mom breathing The American Lung Association doesn't mention climate as a contributing factor, except to stay away from pollutants and smoke.

My question is, does anyone have any experience with this disorder, and will the desert air really make that much difference?

Later,

Phil

[km gresham]

Phil, I'm sorry to hear this. I don't know anything about the illness, but I went to google and searched CPOD treatment and there were a lot of sites with information. I'm sure you already know this, but thought I'd pass it along.

I have found the internet invaluable in helping me to diagnose and locate treatment for all sorts of things. Scanning, I didn't see anything about climate, but I know that's been thought to be a contributing factor in lung conditions for many years.

I think tuberculosis sufferers used to go to more arid climates.

The best of luck to all of you in dealing with this.

edited for spelling COPD

[ 03-21-2003, 12:58 PM: Message edited by: km gresham ]

[Ken Hall]

Phil--

Sorry to hear it. My prayers for your folks.

Such a move might help limit exposure to environmental factors that make COPD so dangerous (cold weather being a biggie, from my observations of people who suffer from COPD). I don't know how much improvement you can expect otherwise--maybe some, maybe not, I just don't know.

[Matt J.]

Phil,
Jenny's grandparents moved to the desert for a lung disease her grandmother suffers from. They've been there awhile, though I don't know what the disease is.

One other thing, Last summer I heard that the factories in the mid-west pump loads of junk into the air that washes down to the mid atlantic states. Perhaps avoided this pollution would be healpful. Somewhere I heard that the docs were suggestion increased asthma occurances in the mid-atlantic possibly due to Ohio factory pollution.

Is it possible to head out there for short term trial stay?

Best of luck,
Matt

[Wild Dingo]

Phil... sorry to hear about your mum mate

Dont know about this desease your mums got... but I know for Bethany who suffers from asthma the move south to the cooler more moist climate has increased her problem... it is often recommended for many lung problems to move to a dryer climate maybe that would be good for her? ...perhaps your dad could hook up a caravan {SUV?camper trailer Winnibago thingys! gawd the different names gets frustrating at times!} and head out there for a few months to see how she gets on before he moves her lock stock and barrel... if say in 6 -12 months theres no improvement then it isnt going to be much help to her to move there permemently and they may as well stay put where theyre near to you and other family and friends... but on the other hand if it does help then they will know and be able to decide based on the knowledge they will have gained... and hopefully enjoyed a bit of a holiday while they were at it which wouldnt be a bad thing necessarily would it?

Mate for all that I hope they find a cure for her! All the best to them both and to you as well I know worryin about ones olds can be stressfull... so take care of yerself as well!

[Donn]

She shouldn't move to Arizona. The closer to sea level, the better. Altitude makes breathing more difficult. Unfortunately, humidity is also a problem for COPD sufferers. A seaside home with a good air-conditioning system, fitted with the best HEPA filters money can buy.

[Donn]

Found this interesting tidbit while researching COPD

"Allergies are a common trigger for an asthma attack, and people will find an allergen in every environment. Therefore, we rarely recommend that people move because of allergies. In the early 1900s, many people left the Northeast for areas in the Southwest, such as Arizona, because of its dry, arid, relatively allergyfree climate. However, those people transported their problems by taking trees and grasses and irrigating the land to sustain the new plant life. As a result, Arizona now has higher pollen counts than the Northeast. Some parts of the country are relatively allergenfree, such as desert climates where humans have not irrigated the land, or mountainous areas. However, the major allergens are indoors, and people tend to have the same indoor allergies wherever they live. "

Breathewell.com (http://www.breathewell.com/Ask_the_Doctor/ask_the_doctor.html)

[Alan D. Hyde]

I wish her well, Phil.

There are portions of New Mexico, I am told, that retain their original dry and largely allergen-free climate.

As far as indoors/outdoors, Donn may be right. I'd try to identify the best physician available for this kind of ailment, and then see what he or she says...

Alan

[ 03-21-2003, 04:38 PM: Message edited by: Alan D. Hyde ]

[htom]

I wish her well, too. My parents moved to the Phoenix area hoping for that, but nowdays with the population explosion and the growth of the golf course industry it's neither dry nor allergin-free. If they're going to move, the higher elevations of New Mexico or Arizona, maybe, far from a big city.

[thechemist]

Many people are allergic to the spores of mold [fungi] and these may be found in living areas as well as outdoors wherever there is soil, for common fungi live in soil.

Mold allergies may mimic many other conditions, even creating the apparency of bizarre and difficult-to-diagnose autoimmune diseases.

Modern carpets are made with antifungal materials, to discourage mold growing in/on them. Thus, get rid of old carpets and replace with new.

Wood floors may harbor a variety of mildew and other molds, especially under old carpet. Wood floors should be washed with a water solution of borate salts. Disodium octaborate is commonly used for antifungal treatments of wood outdoors.....although rain washes it away and it must be redone. On interior floors, one treatment on bare wood should be good for a long time, using a few pounds in a five-gallon-pail of warm water and applying with a mop or sponge-on-a-broomstick. The nice thing about using any sodium borate salt is that the stuff is essentially non-hazardous for humans, even though toxic to molds and many insects.

You should be able to buy disodium octaborate under a variety of tradenames wherever pest control chemicals are sold. U. S. Borax uses its tradename Octabor. It is also known as Tim-Bor and may be ordered, for instance, from http://store.doyourownpestcontrol.com/cgi-bin/pestcontrol.storefront/EN/catalog/1052, just to pick one I found from a google search.

Indoor air can be purified with one of those electrostatic ion-generators and filters. Outdoor air will have more-or-less stuff in it depending on when local pollen-generating plants do their thing, as well as when ground-fungi bloom [usually on warm days just after a light rain].

[Tar Devil]

Sorry I haven't replied... been sitting in an airport trying to find a flight home.

Thanks, folks, for the suggestions. I'll forward these to Dad.

Donn, Dad was debating whether desert or coast... he thinks his alergies is better at the coast.

Alan, she's been to more doctors than I can count... all supposedly specialist. She like the Dr. she sees now, but she ain't getting any better.

Chemist, they've just replaced almost all the flooring and Dad has hired someone to help keep the place clean. The electrostatic ion generator sounds like an idea.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Later,

Phil