Tag: Breathe

Beyond the Haze: Protecting Your Lungs in Hanoi’s Polluted Environment

Hanoi’s pollution isn’t just an eyesore – it’s a serious health hazard. The city’s air is filled with tiny, invisible particles that can wreak havoc on your respiratory system. While the immediate effects of pollution, like coughing and wheezing, are noticeable, the long-term consequences are even more alarming.

 

The Silent Killer: Long-Term Effects of Air Pollution

Repeated exposure to Hanoi’s polluted air can lead to chronic respiratory conditions like asthma, bronchitis, and even lung cancer. The fine particulate matter (PM2.5) found in the air can penetrate deep into your lungs, causing inflammation and damage over time.

But the damage doesn’t stop there. Studies have also linked air pollution to cardiovascular disease, stroke, and even neurological disorders. The toxins in the air can enter your bloodstream and affect your entire body, increasing your risk of serious health problems.

 

The Importance of Proactive Lung Protection

Protecting your lungs from Hanoi’s pollution is crucial for your long-term health. While avoiding polluted areas altogether may not be feasible, there are steps you can take to minimize your exposure and safeguard your respiratory system.

  • Wear a High-Quality Mask: A mask with advanced filtration technology can effectively block out harmful particles and protect your lungs.
  • Monitor Air Quality: Stay informed about the air quality index (AQI) and adjust your activities accordingly. Avoid outdoor exercise or strenuous activities when pollution levels are high.
  • Stay Hydrated: Drinking plenty of water helps flush out toxins from your body and keeps your respiratory system healthy.
  • Boost Your Immune System: A strong immune system can help your body fight off the negative effects of pollution. Eat a healthy diet, get enough sleep, and manage stress.

Worried about the air quality? Learn how to monitor pollution levels in ‘Hanoi Air Quality Alert: How to Monitor Pollution Levels and Stay Safe’.

Can’t Breathe? Do These Breathing Exercises to Increase Your Lung Capacity!

It is possible to increase your lung capacity by doing a few quick breathing exercises every day.

It is common for everyone to feel anxious during this time when pneumonia and asthma are so rife. Especially for younger or older people with delicate lungs, it is important to know that are lungs bring oxygen to our blood. We need oxygen to survive because we need energy. To burn the food we eat to turn it into energy, oxygen must be supplied to our cells, and carbon dioxide must be removed. Oxidation occurs when carbohydrates and fats in our body combine with the oxygen we breathe in. The first major factor in getting enough oxygen is eating properly and exercising everyday.

Our lungs and our skin remove heat from our body, and our circulatory system moves substances to and from our cells. Our cells’ demands are constantly changing. The process of respiration is how air moves through our mouth and nose through our trachea (windpipe) straight down into our lungs. Our lungs absorb the oxygen and remove the carbon dioxide after which it is transported through the diaphragm (at the floor of our rib cage) to the rest of our body.

In our lungs we have bronchi, which are large tubes that the air flows through into smaller tubes called bronchioles. Then it moves into tiny air sacs called alveoli where the oxygen separates from other compounds in the air. The best part of the air is then moved into blood vessels called capillaries where the oxygen is carried through to the rest of your body in hemoglobin.

Factors that affect how much oxygen our bodies need include: age, sex, weight, physical fitness and level of physical activity being done. If we don’t get enough oxygen it can be dangerous because we can be affected by poor concentration, fainting, confusion, fatigue or hyperventilation.

Now we will tell you a few short breathing exercises that you can do whenever you have time. While you’re working, relaxing, walking, reading, or during any activity really. You can do it for however long you are comfortable, but we’ve observed best results when done for about 10 minutes twice a day.

  1. Breathe in deep through your nose… let your belly fill with air
  2. Breathe out through your nose
  3. Place one hand on your belly and the other on your chest
  4. Feel the air expanding your belly and practice full, deep breaths in and shorter breaths out

Another great exercise is to combine breathing with the tensing of muscles. For example, try this:

  1. Breathe in deep (for around 3 seconds) while tensing your biceps
  2. Then breathe out while releasing the tension in those muscles.
  3. Continue for all the muscles you can tense, one by one starting with your feet and ending with your ears.

One more great exercise you can do is a great way to release stress or anxiety.

  1. Breathe in deep through your nose, fill your belly and chest
  2. When you can’t breathe in anymore, open your mouth as wide as you can and breathe out with a “hah” sound
  3. Repeat as many times as you like.

We hope that these exercises will help you a little bit during your stressful days. After about a week of practicing for only 20 minutes a day, your lung capacity should have grown a little bit. You’ll feel less out of breath on your morning run or while climbing those stairs. You’ll also be able to hold your breath for a longer time under water. A tip for the next time you do a ‘hold your breath’ competition is to breathe in as deeply as you can (until you can’t breathe any longer). You can learn to find that perfect spot of lung fullness so that you’re not too full with air, but that you can continue to feed your air sacs for as long as possible. If you feel like you’re having difficulty breathing, that your chest is tight, or that you cannot take deep breaths without pain, do read these other exercises to improve your breathing.

The Wim Hof Method

While sitting in a comfortable place, take 30 quick, deep breaths, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Then, take a deep breath and exhale; hold until you need to breathe in. Inhale again, as deep as you can, and hold it for 10 seconds. Repeat as many times as you like.

 

How do we protect our lungs?

‘So how do we protect your lungs?’

Our filters are produced from the highest quality, highly efficient absorption material with micropore structure, fast resorption, and excellent purification efficiency. The filters are heat resistant, acid resistant, and alkali resistant with no smell.

The adsorption of organic particles is up to ten times higher than general activated carbon. Organic particles in gas, aldehyde, hydroxybenzene, and alkene are filtered because of the structure of the micropores. They also feature excellent adsorption of up to 95% of inorganic gases such as No, No2, So2, H2S, HF, HCL, CO and CO2.

Studies have proven that active carbon filters can remove all forms of pollutants. Multiple materials are required to attract the different molecules within pollutants. That is why active carbon filters have numerous properties. Activated charcoal has millions of pores that create immense surface area to which chemicals can adhere. The negatively charged ions within active carbon work similar to a magnet that attracts the positive ions like PM2.5 particles, heavy metals and other toxins.

To test the filtration efficiency of the filters, our manufacturer used the Automated Filter Tester 8130. This is the same instrument that is used at NIOSH to test the efficiency and penetration of aerosols. The results showed that the active carbon filter filtered 100% of PM10 particles, more than 99% of all PM2.5 particles, and 95% of PM0.3 particles.

Using the Met One Instrument AeroCet 531S, the filters were also tested independently.

The study was conducted from 8AM till 4PM for one day in the city center of Hanoi, VietNam. The laboratory had open windows, and was located on the 4th floor. The different sizes of pollutants in the room were collected simultaneously: PM1, PM2.5, PM7, PM10 and TSP, and were measured before and after the mask was tested. Sample masks and filters were measured for a total of 20 minutes each, and the instrument provided data every 2 minutes.

Results showed that the activate carbon filter has a filter efficiency of up to 99.8%. On average while the mask was fit tested on a subject, the filtration rate of PM2.5 particles was 95%. The gas mask filters filtered out 100% of PM2.5 particles through the microfiber filter and chemical cartridge, while 99.7% of particles were filtered while fitted on a subject.

The temperature was 25°C, and humidity was 89%.

The AEROCET 531S is a full–featured, battery operated, handheld mass monitor or particle counter. It simultaneously measures 6 mass concentration ranges (PM1, PM2.5, PM4, PM7, PM10 and TSP) or five particle count sizes (0.3µm, 0.5µm, 1.0µm, 5.0µm and 10µm).

How I Improved My Breathing In 1 Week (Pt 1-Indoors)

Finding clean air to breathe in polluted cities is possible, but difficult. In this post you’ll learn how to improve your breathing in just 1 week.

It is long known that polluted air harms our lungs, especially those of young children and elder adults. We now know that it can take years off of our lives, so we’re striving to provide options to breathe clean air whenever and wherever we are.

Indoors

At home it is necessary to understand that certain things cause and keep a closed environment polluted.

Make sure your home environment and especially where you sleep has low readings of PM2.5 particles.

  1. Any form of cooking emissions or smoke that is not removed from your breathing environment at the same time it is generated will cause higher readings of particles. Cooking, dust, and air from outside that enters your home will harm your lungs without you actually noticing it. If you schedule an appointment to fit a mask with us we might be able to organize bringing a PM2.5 reader to your home to measure your indoor air particle levels. If you’d like to purchase a reader or compare different types of readers you can also get in touch with us for the most affordable and high quality readers there are.

Original Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 3H Global Version White2. Dusting often and vacuuming all the particles inside will help, but a HEPA purifier will help even more. Getting a purifier in your area is getting easier and cheaper. Send us a message and we’ll be sure to refer you to a place that has a showroom or can deliver you a purifier. The more material things you have in your home, the more dust can be collected on those things. Having a minimal home with only the furnishings you need and cleaning your space regularly will give you the best results. A deep clean every month is something you should keep in mind, and when you first move into a place do make sure everything is clean to keep small particle circulation down.

3. Turning on exhaust fans when cooking or producing any form of heating (even candles), will help to clean your indoor environment. We were surprised to read PM2.5 levels of 600 when we visited a customers’ house who had just slightly burnt a pizza in their oven. When we opened the windows and cleared and equalized the air, it slowly went back down to outdoor levels. They didn’t have a purifier however, so we suggest getting one as soon as possible.

Part 2 will cover outdoor air quality.

Here are 6 more tips to keep your indoor environment clean.

 

When and for what activities should we wear a mask?

A mask should be worn when the air quality is bad outside because it affects health. If there is a chance of long exposure to poor air quality people should be careful of spending too much time breathing poor air. A mask can also be worn to prevent yourself from getting sick.

This corresponds to different levels of air pollution for healthy people and the most vulnerable groups: people who suffer from chronic lung or heart disease, elderly, pregnant, and children.

N95 masks are not needed for short exposure, or when the air quality is good. N95 masks are also not needed in an indoor environment if the environment is filtered using indoor air purifiers.

There is a range of masks suitable for all activities and environments adapted to the use: in or out of the city, running, walking, commuting, sports and leisure, allergy relief, or for the work place. The more adapted a mask is to the activity and needs of the user, the more effective the protection from the effects of air pollution will be.

The most important thing about the prevention of pollutants or other harmful substances is to understand that air can be bad, and to have tools in place to battle it. During an epidemic like Covid-19, we are all very worried about getting sick. The Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) that people are sold is often not helpful. We need to understand that the air we breathe can be filled with harmful particles at any time. We also need to know that prevention of substances entering our system can happen very quickly and without us even knowing. The key is to protect yourself from hazardous particles by filtering your indoor air, minimizing contact, cleaning hands frequently, and wearing a mask that is fitted. At AryMask we ensure that you get a mask that fits.

Here 3 doctors offer their knowledge about surgical VS ffp3 certified masks. They don’t however mention that even a fitted mask cannot prevent those who are around you from getting sick. Any mask with a valve for that matter will allow cough droplets to escape into your surrounding.