Early Detection of Asthma Flare-Ups Reduces Hospitalizations

Early detection leads to prompt treatment of symptoms... which reduces emergency room visits and hospitalizations.  A good line of communication with a pediatric asthma specialist is the key.  S Susarla

Reducing Hospital Admissions for Asthmatics

ScienceDaily (Apr. 4, 2012) — Children with moderate or severe asthma attacks who are treated with systemic corticosteroids during the first 75 minutes of triage in the Emergency Department (ED) were 16% less likely to be admitted to hospital. This highlights the importance of adopting a strategy to rapidly identify and begin treating children with moderate or severe asthma attacks directly after triage, according to a team of investigators working at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center (UHC), the University of Montreal, McGill University and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC).

"We knew that corticosteroids could help avoid hospital admissions and relapses. However, just how delays between ED admission and administration of the treatment impacted outcomes remained unclear," says Dr. Sanjit K. Bhogal, the lead author of a new study published in Annals of Emergency Medicine and graduate of the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill.

"Our study demonstrates that, to be effective in preventing hospital admission, treatment with corticosteroids should be administered within 75 minutes of triage, regardless of patient age," says the senior author Dr. Francine Ducharme, who supervised the study while she was a McGill and RI MUHC researcher based at the Montreal Children's Hospital.

According to Dr. Ducharme, now pediatrician and researcher at Sainte-Justine UHC, "in fact, the earlier the treatment is given within this time frame, the more effective it is, hence the advantage of starting treatment right after triage. Furthermore, beginning early treatment reduces ED stay by almost 45 minutes for patients who will be discharged from the ED."

The challenge now is to ensure that the severity of the asthma attack is flagged at the triage stage in order to initiate treatment immediately. In fact, it seems that patients who are treated "too late" were due, for the most part, to not been given high triage priorities or to physicians not being able to assess them early enough. ED congestion did not significantly impact on the time frame for administering corticosteroids.

"Given the findings of the study, the need to implement a nursing strategy that involves identifying the severity of the child's condition and beginning treatment as soon as a patient arrives in the ED, seemed obvious," said Dr. Ducharme, who is also clinical epidemiologist at the Sainte-Justine UHC, where the study data were compiled and analyzed. Dr. Ducharme also holds the Academic Chair in Clinical Research and Knowledge Transfer in Childhood Asthma at the Sainte-Justine UHC Research Center and is a full professor in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montreal.

The pediatric respiratory assessment measure (PRAM) scale, developed by Dr. Ducharme's team, was used to identify the degree of severity of the asthma attack and to rapidly initiate the severity-specific treatment recommended by asthma guidelines. At the Sainte-Justine UHC, Dr. Ducharme' s team has now develop a teaching module that will allow training of the triage nurses, ED physicians, and respiratory therapists to implement severity-specific guidelines and, whenever possible, to avoid patients being admitted to hospital.

The educational module will be available online by the end of 2012 on the University of Montreal's website. It is eagerly awaited by health institutions in Ontario and Alberta, as well as in several institutions in the US, which have decided to adopt the proposed treatment protocol based on the PRAM scale and who wish to receive training. The tool is an offspring of the integration of research, education and health care. As such, it will make it possible to transfer the knowledge acquired through the study to the EDs around the world, for the direct benefit of patients and their families.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120404101953.htm

Sleep Disorders Increasing in Children

Sleep does not come easily for some children

By Paul Swiech pswiech@pantagraph.com 

Sleep disorders are more prevalent among children than most people realize, according to two Central Illinois sleep medicine specialists.

Sometimes, sleep disorder symptoms in kids are misdiagnosed and treated as other health conditions, including behavior disorders, meaning the underlying problem isn't addressed.

Sometimes, an untreated sleep disorder exacerbates symptoms of another medical condition, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

"Thirty to 40 percent of kids 9 to 12 years old have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep at least three days a week," said Dr. David Koh, a pulmonologist and critical care physician with Illinois Heart & Lung Associates, part of Advocate Medical Group. Koh figures the prevalence among children younger than 9 is similar.

While those children have sleep problems that should be addressed, not all have a diagnosable sleep disorder. Dr. Humam Farah of OSF Critical Care, Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, said 4 percent of children have a sleep disorder.

Koh, medical director of the Midwest Center for Sleep Medicine, said the increasing numbers are partly because of improved diagnoses but he also thinks that more children have sleep disorders than a generation ago.

Farah, medical director of the Sleep Center of Central Illinois, said increased obesity is one reason for the increase. Obesity results in fat in the upper airways. Narrowed airways interrupt breathing and sleep and decrease oxygen to the brain.

Some children inherit a sleep disorder, such as restless leg syndrome (RLS) and periodic limb movement disorder.

RLS is a neurological condition characterized by the irresistible urge to move the legs, according to the RLS Foundation. The urge to move the legs is often accompanied by unpleasant sensations in the legs that worsen during periods of rest or inactivity and at night.

Periodic limb movement disorder is a rhythmic twitching of the legs after falling asleep, Koh said.

Both conditions prevent deep sleep and wake people up at night.

While RLS is generally associated with older adults, 2 percent of children have the condition. When either parent has RLS, the prevalence among children increases to 16 percent, Koh said.

In addition, many children with RLS or periodic limb movement disorder also have low iron levels, Koh said.

RLS is worsened by stimulants such as caffeine or chocolate.

When people are sleep-deprived and stressed, that increases the body's desire for fatty foods. Increased consumption of fatty foods prompts weight gain.

Sometimes, increased stress on the cardiovascular system prompts the kidneys to produce more urine, resulting in bed-wetting.

But many parents don't recognize their child has a sleep disorder. Instead, they focus on the daytime symptoms of lack of sleep: irritability, declining academic performance, weight gain and a wet bed.

Some children with a sleep disorder are assumed to have a behavior disorder. Others are diagnosed with ADHD.

Indeed, some have ADHD with a sleep disorder. Thirty percent of children treated for ADHD have a diagnosable sleep disorder, Koh said. When those 30 percent of children are treated successfully for their sleep disorder, about half of them are able to be weaned off their ADHD medicine.

Children who have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep should be taken to their pediatrician, Koh and Farah said. The pediatrician may refer them for a sleep study. The two sleep centers in Bloomington perform overnight sleep studies.

Some children are diagnosed with sleep apnea, a common disorder in which a person has pauses in breathing or shallow breathing while sleeping. Sleep is interrupted. Left untreated, sleep apnea increases long-term risk of heart disease and stroke.

For children, a common treatment for sleep apnea is removing enlarged tonsils or adenoids.

Some children are treated with continuous positive airway pressure masks, which supply a steady stream of air through the nose or mouth during sleep, Farah said.

Weight loss is a key for overweight children, Farah said.

For children diagnosed with RLS or periodic limb movement disorder, medicine such as Mirapex can lessen the symptoms and improve sleep, Koh said. Iron supplements can help boost iron levels.

Sleep tips

Newborns need 16 to 18 hours of sleep a day, toddlers 6 months to 1 year old need 14 hours of sleep a day, children ages 1 to 3 need 12 hours of sleep a day, preschoolers need 11 to 12 hours of sleep, school-age children ages 5 to 13 need 9 to 10 hours of sleep a day and teenagers need 9 hours of sleep a day. Many children and teens don't get that much sleep. Here are tips for children to get a better night's sleep:

-- Don't have caffeine and limit chocolate, which are stimulants.

-- Don't eat a meal or exercise at least two hours before bedtime.

-- Try to go to bed and get up about the same time each day.

-- No videos (television, video games, computer games) within two hours of bedtime.

-- No electronics (televisions, computers, cellphones) in children's rooms at night.

-- For young children who are older than 6 months, make sure they fall asleep in the same position in which they will wake up. In other words, don't let them fall asleep in your arms. Instead, go through your bedtime routine (bath, bedtime story, etc.), then put them to bed, wish them good night and leave their room. If they get up and come into your room, direct them back to their room politely but unemotionally. They should learn to fall asleep on their own.

-- For children who want some light, dim nightlights are OK.

-- For older children, don't tell them "Go to sleep." You can't force someone to go to sleep. Instead urge them to go to bed and relax.

 http://www.nwitimes.com/niche/get-healthy/newsletter-featured-fitness/sleep-does-not-come-easily-for-some-children/article_b756e3dc-fb42-523e-9cd4-10b64923abec.html

Read more: here

Asthma Signs in Early Infancy

Recurrent wheezing in infants should not be ignored.  Here is more evidence that signs of asthma may be present in even very young children and infants.   SS

Lung Function Deficits in Babies May Lead to Future Asthma

Joanna Broder

March 30, 2012 — In the future, scientists may want to explore ways to prevent childhood asthma long before it fully evidences itself, by focusing on neonates and young babies.

New research suggests that lung function deficits related to future asthma may develop before birth, in infanthood, and in early childhood, suggesting that asthma research could target prevention at these times.

Hans Bisgaard, MD, head of the Danish Pediatric Asthma Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues presented the results of their study in an article published online March 29 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The authors found that children who develop asthma by age 7 years have respiratory problems as infants, including increased bronchial responsiveness and deficits in lung function.

"It seems that lung function changes associated with asthma occur very early in life and maybe even before birth," Dr. Bisgaard, who is also a professor of pediatrics at the University of Copenhagen, said in a news release. "This may explain the lack of effect from early intervention with inhaled corticosteroids and should direct research into the pathogenesis and prevention of asthma towards the earliest phases of life."

The authors of the study, which is the most comprehensive prospective study yet of the association between early childhood asthma and lung function from birth to school age, note that it is unclear which comes first: the development of asthma or the development of deficits in lung function.

"These questions are important for the direction of research into the origins and prevention of asthma," they write. "[S]hould we expect genetic or prenatal programming of the disease; or is there an early window of opportunity to prevent airway remodeling during early symptoms?"

In the study, the researchers analyzed the interaction between asthma and lung function growth from neonatal age to age 7 years in the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC), a prospective clinical study of a birth cohort of 411 children.

"Previous research on the relationship between neonatal lung function and the development of asthma has been conflicting," Dr. Bisgaard said in the news release. "Our study shows that children with asthma by age seven already had significant airflow deficits and increased bronchial responsiveness as neonates. Lung function deficits also progressed throughout childhood in our study, suggesting a potential opportunity for early intervention."

The newborns were enrolled in the first month of life and were assessed at 6-month intervals. Additional visits were arranged when there was an onset of respiratory symptoms.

The diagnosis of asthma was based on daily diary cards and health visits every 6 months during the first 7 years of life.

The researchers analyzed the interaction between asthma and lung function growth from neonatal age to age 7 years by measuring neonatal spirometry and bronchial responsiveness to methacholine through forced flow-volume measurements. They also measured lung function through spirometry when the child turned 7 years old, using a pneumotachograph, which records the rate of airflow to and from the lungs.

The results showed that children with asthma at age 7 years had experienced a significant airflow deficit as newborns (forced expiratory flow rate [FEF]₅₀ reduced by 0.34 Z score by 1 month; P < .03). This deficit worsened significantly through early childhood (FEF₅₀ reduced by 0.82 Z score by age 7 years; P < .0001).

"We found that approximately 40% of the airflow deficit that was associated with asthma in our study was present at birth, while 60% developed through early childhood along with the disease," Dr. Bisgaard said in the news release. "This indicates that both prenatal and early childhood mechanisms are potential intervention targets for the prevention of asthma."

Further results showed that bronchial responsiveness to methacholine, which leads to narrowing of the airways, was also significantly related to the development of asthma. Reactivity of the neonatal airway was a stronger predictor of asthma than neonatal lung function, the research showed.

"This airflow deficit progressed in the first 7 years of life suggesting that disease mechanisms are operating both before and after birth," the authors write.

One limitation is that the study used a homogenous study sample, which might limit the generalizability of results to other populations, according to written materials from the American Thoracic Society.

The Lundbeck Foundation, the Pharmacy Foundation of 1991, the Augustinus Foundation, the Danish Medical Research Council, and the Danish Pediatric Asthma Centre provided the core support for the study. The authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Am J Respir Crit Care Med. Published online March 29, 2012. Abstract

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/761273

Can Children Outgrow Asthma?

Perhaps the most common question a parent asks me about asthma is whether the disease is life long.  This question is hard to answer and it is risky to assume that children may "outgrow" their condition.  SS

Patients can’t outgrow breathing illness

It’s not the news parents want to hear, especially those who have watched their children gasp for every breath.

   But the reality is that you can’t outgrow asthma.

   Sure, the symptoms might ease, especially during teenage years. And, yes, getting a handle on any triggers that might worsen the problem — mold, pollen, dust mites, smoke, pollution and strong odors chief among them — can help.

   Still, “Asthma is a chronic disease, not a temporary condition,” said Dr. Jonathan Parsons, a pulmonologist and associate director of the Asthma Center at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.

   “It’s like high blood pressure or diabetes. There’s waxing and waning of the symptoms, but you have to be aware that you have it, and you have to know how to manage it.”

   Doctors say that asthma is most often diagnosed in children, and of those, about 90 percent experience a recurrence of symptoms, Parsons said.

   Managing the condition becomes a way of life. Asthma occurs when airways are narrow and swollen, impeding the flow and speed of air intake.

   “That’s a wheeze,” Parsons said.

   But sufferers don’t have to huff and puff all the time to have the problem. Asthma can manifest itself as a cough or an uncomfortable feeling or tightness in the chest or can masquerade as a runny nose attributed to a sinus problem or allergies.

   The only way to really diagnosis it is to undergo pulmonary-function tests, which measure airflow.

   Parents often don’t want to accept the diagnosis, said Dr. Karen S. McCoy, chief of the Division of Pediatric Pulmonology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

   “An asthma diagnosis is perfect for making a parent as worried and apprehensive as they can be,” McCoy said. “They don’t want to think that their child would have something ongoing or chronic, and the potential for ongoing and long-term medications is a concern for them.”

   She said childhood asthmatics often get a respite during their teenage years mostly because teens aren’t as prone to viral infections, which trigger symptoms, and because a change in the size of the airways means that a little bit of swelling doesn’t affect breathing as much.

   But as those kids grow older, they must remember to watch for the signs again.

   Xandula Gaitor said she wishes her two sons were so lucky.

   Her boys, now ages 20 and 10, have long struggled with severe asthma. Her older son, Alwyn Burns, caught a break in his teen years, but that was largely because his condition was so severe that the family relocated to Phoenix for its drier climate, she said.

   To help her younger son, Isaiah Burns, manage his asthma, they relocated to Alabama for a time.

   Now they are back in Westerville to be closer to family, and Isaiah’s symptoms remain severe.

   Gaitor said that when Alwyn was 5 months old and doctors diagnosed his asthma, she was scared yet relieved to know why he suffered terrifying breathing episodes.

   “I just said, ‘OK. Tell me what we need to do and how we can get him better.’”

   Alwyn’s asthma is so severe that the smell of cleaning supplies can trigger an attack. So can a whiff of smoke. And his linens must be washed often in extra-hot water to kill dust mites.

   “It has altered our lifestyle in so many ways,” Gaitor said.

   Treating childhood or adult asthma is largely the same — a maintenance dose of inhaled steroids to reduce inflammation in the airways and a rescue inhaler or breathing machine (called a nebulizer) for serious episodes.

   While childhood patients typically don’t outgrow asthma, some adults end up developing the breathing disorder. It’s called adult-onset asthma, but Parsons said it’s virtually impossible to tell whether the inflammation is new or had always been there.

   Genetics and family history play a role, and exposure to mold or chemicals can make a difference. hzachariah@dispatch.com  


http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/03/25/health/Patients-cant-outgrow-breathing-illness.html

Snoring Linked to Childhood Behavioral Problems

When I ask children and their parents about snoring, it often elicits laughter or some sense of embarrassment.  However, their is extensive evidence that snoring may not be harmless.  SS

Child behaviour link' to snoring

Continue reading the main story

Sleep apnoea and snoring made conditions such as hyperactivity more likely later on, researchers said.

The study, published in the US journal Pediatrics, looked at data on 11,000 children living in the UK.

Lead researcher Dr Karen Bonuck said the sleep problems could be harming the developing brain.

One estimate suggests one in 10 children regularly snores and 2% to 4% suffer from sleep apnoea, which means the breathing is obstructed and interrupted during sleep.

Often enlarged tonsils or adenoids are to blame for the conditions.

In adults, the result can be severe day-time tiredness, and some studies have hinted that behavioural problems such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder might be linked to the condition in children.

The latest study is sufficiently large to offer a clearer view of this.

Oxygen supply

Parents were asked to fill in a questionnaire in which both the level of snoring and apnoea were recorded in the first six or seven years of life, and contrasted with their own assessment of the child's behaviour.

Continue reading the main story

SocietyDr Bonuck, from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York, said that children with breathing issues during sleep were between 40% and 100% more likely to develop "neurobehavioural problems" by the age of seven.She believes that the sleep breathing issues could cause behavioural problems in a number of ways - by reducing the supply of oxygen to the brain, interrupting the "restorative processes" of sleep or disrupting the balance of brain chemicals.

She said: "Until now, we really didn't have strong evidence that sleep-disordered breathing actually preceded problematic behaviour such as hyperactivity.

"But this study shows clearly that symptoms do precede behavioural problems and strongly suggests that they are causing these problems."

Marianne Davey, from the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Society, said that sleep problems in the young were an under-recognised reason for poor behaviour.

She said: "Often parents won't make the connection and mention them to the GP, so this label of ADHD is given to the child, and sometimes they are even given drugs.

"This is wrong, as if the sleep problem is addressed, the behaviour will improve almost immediately."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17237576

Welcome to the blog - Dr. Ori Hampel, Adult & Pediatric Urology

Welcome to Ori Hampel MD 
Adult & Pediatric Urology of Houston, LLP

3230 Strawberry Road, Pasadena, TX 77504

(713) 477-8600 ‎
Dr. Hampel will contribute articles related to pediatric urology.
Dr. Hampel welcomes consultation for:

• Bladder control problems such as bedwetting and daytime urinary incontinence
• Undescended testes (cryptorchidism)
• Hypospadias
• Urolithiasis (bladder and kidney stones)
• Chordee and other minor malformations of the penis
• Phimosis
• Urinary obstruction and vesicoureteral reflux
• Neurogenic bladder (e.g., associated with spina bifida)
• Tumors and cancers of the kidneys
• Repair of genitourinary trauma
• Genitourinary malformations and birth defects
  • Prune belly syndrome
  • Cloacal exstrophy, bladder exstrophy, and epispadias
  • Ambiguous genitalia and intersex conditions

Childhood Obesity Linked To Asthma

Obesity has been linked to a number of diseases associated with inflammation.  This large study provides strong evidence that obese children are more likely to have asthma.  SS 

Kaiser Permanente Study Finds Obesity-Asthma Link in Children Varies by Race/Ethnicity

Electronic Health Records Used to Study 681,000 Youth

By Kaiser Permanente

Published: Monday, Feb. 27, 2012 - 6:08 am

PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 27, 2012 -- PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Children and adolescents who are overweight or obese are more likely to have asthma than their healthy weight counterparts, according to a new Kaiser Permanente Southern California study published in the online edition of Obesity. The study, which included more than 681,000 children between ages 6 and 19, found that the association between asthma and body mass index varied by race and ethnicity.

The study found that the association between BMI and asthma was weaker for African Americans, a group that was previously known to have the highest prevalence of asthma, than for youth from other racial and ethnic groups. Researchers found the strongest association between BMI and asthma in Hispanic youth.

"This research contributes to the growing evidence that there is a relationship between childhood obesity and asthma, and suggests that factors related to race and ethnicity, particularly for Hispanic youth, may modify this relationship," said study lead author Mary Helen Black, PhD, of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation. "The study's large and diverse population, which is broadly representative of the Southern California region,allowed us to examine a wide range of BMI categories in relation to asthma among youth from five racial/ethnic groups."

Researchers also found that, among youth with asthma, being overweight or obese was associated with more frequent visits to the doctor or emergency department for asthma. In addition, overweight or obese youth with asthma used more inhaled and oral corticosteroid asthma drugs, when compared to healthy weight youth. The need for these medical treatments could have broader health implications as other studies have suggested a link between these medications and type 2 diabetes. 

The cross-sectional, population-based study included youth from a racially and ethnically diverse population. Asthma was fairly common in this population, affecting about 18 percent of the youth in the study. Researchers used electronic health records to obtain height and weight measurements, asthma diagnoses, and dispensed prescriptions for asthma-specific medications for children and adolescents in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California integrated health planfrom 2007 to 2009. 

This study is part of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Children's Health Study, and their ongoing work to better understand and prevent childhood obesity.

Last year, the KPSC Children's Health Study found that 7 percent of boys and 6 percent of girls ages 2 to 19 in the population were extremely obese. This study also has used electronic health records to determine that children who were obese or overweight have a significantly higher prevalence of psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the skin.

Other study authors included Ning Smith,PhD, Steven Jacobsen, MD, PhD, and Corinna Koebnick, PhD, from the Department of Research & Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California; and Amy H Porter, MD, from the Department of Pediatrics, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/27/4294206/kaiser-permanente-study-finds.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/27/4294206/kaiser-permanente-study-finds.html

Indoor Allergens: Is it your house or your vacuum cleaner?

An old vacuum cleaner could be part of the problem for people suffering from asthma and allergies.

Are Vacuum Cleaners Bad for Your Health?

Australian Study Shows Most Vacuum Cleaners Release Dust, Bacteria Back Into the Air

Jan 6, 2012 -- You vacuum your house religiously to get rid of all the dust, dirt, and bacteria and make sure your indoor air is up to snuff.

But new research suggests that some vacuum cleaners may actually be making things worse, not better.

Certain vacuum cleaners spit fine dust and bacteria back into the air, where they can spread infections and trigger allergies.

Australian researchers tested 21 vacuum cleaners from 11 manufacturers, including two commercial models. The vacuums were six months to 22 years old, and ranged from less than $100 to almost $800. Brands included Dyson, Electrolux, Hoover, iRobot, and Sanyo. The researchers measured 62 different air emissions.

All released some bacteria, dust, and allergens back into the air. Newer and more expensive vacuum cleaners generally caused less indoor air pollution than older, cheaper models, the study showed.

Vacuums with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters released only slightly lower levels of dust and bacteria than vacuums that did not use these special filters. HEPA filters are supposed to remove 99.9% of the pollen, animal dander, and even bacteria from the air.

The new findings appear in Environmental Science & Technology.

“Both vacuum cleaning and the act of vacuuming can release and re-suspend dust and allergens, leading to increased exposure,” write study researchers from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia.

Indoor Air Cleaning Tips From the Pros

But don’t go throwing your trusty vacuum cleaner out so quickly, says Viviana Temino, MD. She is an assistant professor of allergy and immunology at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

“For a vacuum to do more harm than good, it has to be a really old vacuum cleaner that has never been cleaned,” she says. “In general, most vacuums do take up more dust, dirt, and allergens than they release."

HEPA filters are still the way to go, she says: “They remove more particles than they release back.”

There are other things you can do to keep your indoor air clean. “If you or someone in your home does have indoor allergies, get rid of your carpet,” she says. “If you have throw rugs, wash them once a week in really hot water. This will kill off dust mites and other allergens.”

Feather dusters just relocate dust around the room. Instead, try a microfiber or electrostatic cloth. These don't stir up dust, she says.

Jeffrey May says HEPA filters are still the best. He is the principal scientist at May Indoor Air Investigations in Tyngsborough, Mass., and author of several books, including My House Is Killing Me! The Home Guide for Families With Allergies and Asthma. “A junky old vacuum cleaner will definitely release more allergens than a newer one,” he says.

His advice? Get a vacuum cleaner that has a HEPA filter, and change the filter and clean your house regularly. “Make sure to vacuum under furniture and behind furniture,” May says. “You can't believe the stuff that accumulates there, and this can be an enormous source of allergens.”

By Denise Mann
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/news/20120106/are-vacuum-cleaners-bad-for-health