Having COPD can make it hard to breathe as it taxes both the lungs and the heart, but a new study offers a possible solution: Using an air purifier helped patients' hearts work better.
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How air purifiers can help with COPD?
Researchers found that when people with COPD, also known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, consistently used air purifiers, their hearts were better able to adapt their heart rates in response to daily demands, something known as heart rate variability (HRV). HRV is a key measure of overall heart health. In fact, the participants who used air purifiers daily saw a 25% increase in their HRV.
Study author Dr. Sarath Raju, an assistant professor of medicine who specializes in lung diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, explained that an increase in HRV is important.
"People with poor HRVs are at risk for a number of cardiac problems, such as heart attacks or a worsening of COPD symptoms," he says. "All of these things increase the odds of someone with COPD being hospitalized, which is of course something we want to avoid."
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The study also looked at the role of what scientists call ultrafine particles, tiny pieces of irritants in the air that people breathe. Raju and his colleagues found there was an association between the presence of these particles in a person's home environment and a negative impact on lung health.
"This indicates that the indoor air environment plays an especially important role for people with COPD, and both doctors and patients should be aware of this information," Raju adds.
Dr. MeiLan Han, a professor of pulmonary diseases, critical care medicine and internal medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said the study findings are potentially important because "we know that air pollution has a lot of bad effects on our cardiovascular health. So anything to improve this for people will be helpful."
Han notes that the data is "a bit difficult to interpret because the air quality in each individual household of the study was likely very different, and this variability makes it harder to draw specific conclusions about the impact of the air purifiers."
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Still, Raju is optimistic that "using air purifiers might provide a positive, affordable and sustainable method that can improve the home air environment, and improve both heart and lung health of people with COPD."
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Choosing the right air purifier
If you are interested in purchasing an air purifier to improve your lung or heart health, there are many options. Prices can range from just under $150 to close to $250, according to a recent article from The New York Times.
The key to a good air purifier is to find one that filters out particles 10 micrometers or smaller in diameter (a human hair is about 90 micrometers wide), according to Healthline.
Your nose and upper airway are good at filtering out particles larger than 10 micrometers, however, smaller particles can still make their way into your lungs and bloodstream.
When choosing an air purifier, consider one that contains a HEPA filter. These are considered the gold standard, according to Healthline. HEPA filters are more expensive, but well worth it because they will remove more particles from the air.
Steer clear of any purifier that uses ozone or ions. These products could be harmful to your lungs.
Even though more research needs to be done to test the overall effectiveness of air purifiers in improving heart conditions of people with COPD, it seems reasonable this might be a good and fairly inexpensive way for at least some people suffering from COPD to improve their overall lung health, the experts noted.
