Allergy plays an important role in asthma for women of child-bearing age. Contact with allergen provokes symptoms, leads to disease exacerbation. On the other hand, if it is possible to avoid such contacts (or at least limit them), the disease doesn’t recrudesce. Therefore, measures for limiting contacts with allergens are extremely important, especially during pregnancy. It is an obligatory condition for successful asthma treatment, and the complete avoidance of allergens is possible to achieve, the milder is the disease course and the fewer medications are needed to control it.
Individual range of cause-significant allergens can be defined by allergy tests. But even with negative results, a pregnant woman should think about her child’s future: living in a dusty, cluttered, musted house is not good for his health, and contributes to allergic diseases formation. Therefore, the general measures for dust and must control can be recommended in any case.
Limiting Contacts with Dust
Modern houses usually have lots of objects accumulating dust. Soft furniture, carpets, curtains, piles of books, old newspapers, scattered clothes are endless reservoirs of allergens. During the heating season, when the air humidity is reduced, the tiniest particles of dust float in them for hours. With each breath, they get into respiratory tract irritating and – at sensitive people – allergic reactions. The conclusion is simple: you should reduce the number of items that accumulate dust.
Fluffy wool carpets, draperies and tent-bed — all these things are not for asthmatic. The number of soft furniture should be minimized. It is better to choose furniture without decorative details – buttons, etc. or replace it with leather furniture. Carpets are not recommended. Instead of curtains better use vertical louver-boards. Books should be placed into glassed-in bookcases.
Optimal humidity (40-50%) makes breathing easier and improves general state and, most important, reduces floating dust amount in the air. To determine relative air humidity special equipment — hygrometer – is used. If air humidity is reduced, you should think of getting air humidifier. But high humidity is also harmful: it contributes to the rapid must growth and dust mites reproduction – major indoor allergens. If humidity is high, it is necessary to think about using air dehumidifier.
If a woman does cleaning herself, it is recommended to wear a respirator that protects from dust and allergens. Currently, there are a lot of single-use particle respirators.
Daily wet cleaning is still important, but without a vacuum cleaner in a modern apartment it I impossible to live. And if a woman has asthma, not every vacuum cleaner is suitable for cleaning. The thing is that ordinary vacuum cleaners only absorb coarse dust, and the smallest particles and allergens remain in the air. After such cleaning air pollution increases by three or more times. For allergy sufferers and asthmatics special vacuum cleaners, fitted with filters similar to those used in air purifiers, were designed.
The bed, which for a healthy person is resting place, turns into a major allergens source for allergy sufferers. Dust accumulates in ordinary bedclothes, feather pillows chitin and blankets wool is a perfect environment for must and house dust mites development and multiplication – the main sources of indoor allergens. It is necessary to replace bedclothes for special hypoallergenic — made of light and airly modern materials (polyester, hypoallergenic cellulose and others). Requirements for such materials are quite high:
- should not cause allergy;
- be environmentally friendly;
- be odor-free;
- should have good anti-static performance (not attract dust);
- should have good breathability, humidity permeability and thermal control properties.
Fillers with the glue or latex (e. g., padding polyester) used for bonding are not recommended.
But it’s not enough just to change a pillow. New bedclothes need proper care: regular beating and ventilation, regular laundering at 60 °C and above. Sheets, pillowcases, duvet covers should be changed at least once a week and washed at 60 °C and above. During the summer it is useful to dry bedclothes under direct sunlight, during winter – freeze at low temperature.
Watch this video to learn more recommendations about how to control asthma:
Special Measures
House dust is a whole range of allergens. It is composed of textile fibers, particles of humans and animals’ skin (desquamated epidermis), must fingi, cockroaches and micro arachnids allergens, dust mites (these mites do not spread any diseases and do not “bite”, but their excretions and shell particles are a major source of allergens in house dust).
Detailed allergy survey conducted in our time, allows not only to state the presence of house dust allergy, but also to establish which of its components are the most cause-significant allergens for the patient. It is important because it allows you to apply additional measures: for a variety of allergens, there are special tools to help to get rid of them developed.
Due to the enormous role of house dust mites in allergic diseases and asthma development, scientists have developed a large arsenal of tools for destroying mites and neutralize their allergens. Means to destroy mites are called acaricides.
All of these measures used combined, make it possible to create a hypoallergenic environment and to reduce allergen load on a pregnant woman body.
Unfortunately, there are no special tools for specific pollen allergens neutralization developed. In this case, a complex of sanitary and behavioral measures applied; here air purifiers play an important role. Besides, pollen allergy is one of few types of respiratory allergies which requires effective use of air conditioners. It is recommended to plan pregnancy so that its most vulnerable periods do not concur with the active plants-allergens blossom periods. Often a temporary move to another climate zone during blossom period is the safest and most effective way to avoid contact with pollen and thus bronchial asthma exacerbation.