Spring cleaning? Wear a mask
As winter draws to a close in the Northern Hemisphere and the weather gets warmer, many people start spring cleaning. Allergy sufferers need to be careful, though, because general house cleaning raises a lot of dust. Cleaning products, too, can irritate the respiratory tract.
"Anyone with a chronic respiratory illness or chronic lung disease such as asthma or chronic bronchitis should be careful during spring cleaning," warns Harald Morr, chairman of the German Lung Foundation. "Asthmatics, for example, generally suffer from overly sensitive bronchial tubes and airways."
Cleaning solutions and contact with allergens can cause sneezing attacks, coughing and difficulty breathing, he says. Such symptoms have various possible causes, and cleaning products are often to blame.