How Does Dust Allergy Impact Lung Function?

Most of us think dust allergies are simply a sneezing fit when we inhale dust particles while cleaning the house. But it is something apart from that and creates a significant health concern that can negatively impact your lung function. Thus, understanding how dust allergy affect your lungs will greatly help you take care of yourself before the condition worsens. 

How do your lungs function? 

Taking care of your lungs is never later, and knowing how it works is good to start. To live, each component of your body requires oxygen from the air you breathe. The lungs are one of the crucial organs for breathing and transferring oxygen to all parts of the body. Furthermore, the lungs function to protect your body from external threats. Most of the time we are unaware of our lung function, also they can be affected in many ways and become bad at taking oxygen from the atmosphere and getting rid of waste carbon dioxide. On average, we breathe 22,000 times a day, even to say precisely, our lung function and breathing are base for this life. So whenever you face any issues in the lungs without any delay visit the best hospital for lungs in Coimbatore. 

What is dust? 

Dusts are nothing but tiny solid particles scattered in the atmosphere. Those particles may be organic or inorganic based on the source of dust. Inorganic dust mostly arises from grinding metals or minerals like soil or rock. While the organic dust can develop from animals and plants. Aside from vegetable and animal components, this organic dust may contain fungi, bacteria, and poisonous compounds produced by microbes.

What happens when you breathe in dust? 

There are different respiratory tract and defense mechanisms are available to safeguard lung function. Whenever we are breathing,Numerous particles spread in the air enter our noses, but not all of them reach the lungs and disrupt lung function.. We can say that our nose is one of the effective filters, mostly all the large particles will be stopped, or they will be removed by sneezing or blowing. 

While some of them pass through the nose and enter the windpipe and dividing air tubes further, they will reach the lungs. This air reaches the alveoli in the inner part of the lungs, with some foreign particles that escape the defenses in the nose and airways. These air sacs are one of the crucial things because they help for receiving oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide. 

Dust will reach the lower part of the airways, this is crucial for the defense mechanism in the lung function, and it helps in keeping air sacs clean. Typically, macrophages will swallow the particles. Then these macrophages will reach part of the airways covered by cilia. Further, the cilia will move the macrophages with dust particles, to the throat, where it will be swallowed. 

Further, the lungs will maintain a certain system for dust removal, and indicating the symptoms of dust in the lungs, the lungs will react to the germ-bearing particles by generating proteins. These proteins will be attached to the dust particles just to neutralize them. 

What is the impact of dust allergy on lung function?

•  Short term effects: 

The short-term effects of breathing dust will cause sudden respiratory signs such as coughing and sneezing. These signs will affect your daily routines and sleep patterns also affecting your overall well-being. 

• Long term effects: 

When you are continuously exposing yourself to dust allergens, it can result in severe dust allergy symptoms like asthma or COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Persistent inflammation in the lungs can create permanent damage, and further lung function and capacity will be reduced. 

•  Inflammatory response: 

Once the dust particles enter your lungs, they will trigger the inflammatory response. Further, swelling will be caused in the airways due to the inflammation and excess mucus will be produced, which will make it difficult to breathe. 

• Airway hyperresponsiveness: 

When you are continuously exposing yourself to dust allergens, your airways will become sensitive after some time. We call this condition airway hyperresponsiveness, which can trigger frequent asthma attacks and other respiratory problems. 

What is the connection between dust allergy and asthma? 

One of the common triggers for asthma is dust allergy. When you inhale the dust particles, your airways become narrow and produce excess mucus, resulting in asthma attacks. When compared with others, people with asthma expose themselves to dust allergy, which will badly affect their symptoms and makes asthma more difficult to control. 

How to diagnose dust allergy? 

Whenever you reach out to a healthcare provider, they will begin the treatment with a complete medical history and physical examination to diagnose potential dust allergy. Further, they will ask you about your signs, their frequency, and possible triggers. Your doctor will suggest an allergy test to confirm a dust allergy. These tests include blood tests and skin prick tests to diagnose particular allergens causing your signs. 

What are the treatment and management for dust allergy? 

Apart from treatment and medication, it’s better to avoid exposure to dust allergy. This includes frequent cleaning, using dust-proof pillows, mattresses, and covers, and maintaining humidity levels low, all these proactive steps will offer you dust allergy relief. The next one is medications, medications will greatly help you in combating your dust allergy. In severe cases, immunotherapy will be suggested to reduce the sensitivity of dust allergy. 

Further, you should maintain indoor air quality for managing your dust allergy. This can be achieved by reducing indoor humidity, and during high pollen seasons keeping windows closed. Also, you can try using air purifiers with HEPA filters which will greatly remove the dust particles from the air, keeping you away from the allergens and will potentially reduce your symptoms. 

What are the lifestyle changes to be done to manage dust allergy? 

• Frequent cleaning: There will be no dust accumulation when cleaning frequently. Also, try using a damp cloth to wipe surfaces, and often wash your bedding in hot water. 

• Reduce your exposure to dust: Effortlessly you can reduce your dust allergy by changing your home environment by using allergy-proof covers, removing carpets, etc. 

• Home remedies: You can follow simple home remedies like steam inhalation, saline nasal rinses, and even honey can help soothe signs and enhance your respiratory function.

• Coping strategies: It’s crucial to follow some coping strategies to manage signs and prevent flare-ups. This includes following the medications as prescribed and staying informed about your condition. 

• Support system: Getting help from the best lungs specialist in Coimbatore will offer great support and resources for managing dust allergies. 

Final Thoughts: 

For sure, dust allergy will disturb your lung function, and even can lead to short-term and long-term respiratory problems. Simply by understanding how it affects your lung function and taking effective steps will greatly assist you in protecting your lung function, and will help you to lead a healthier life.