Household air purifiers improve heart health among individuals with COPD, researchers find (HEPA w/carbon filter best)

Medical Xpress / Johns Hopkins Univ. School of Med. / Am. Jrnl. of Respiratory and Critical Care Med ^ | Dec. 5, 2022 | Sarath Raju et al

[ConservativeMind]

A study concludes that the use of portable home air purifiers can improve markers of cardiovascular health in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. People suffering from COPD often experience shortness of breath, chest tightness and chronic cough.

Cardiovascular diseases commonly accompany COPD.

The new research is a secondary study of the CLEAN AIR study. The CLEAN AIR study found that people with COPD experienced improved symptoms after using portable air purifiers indoors.

First, researchers had trained technicians take air samples of indoor particulate matter of varying sizes. These indoor air pollutants are composed of such things as mold and pet dander. One of the tiniest kinds of particulate matter, PM 2.5—smaller than the diameter of a human hair—can be detrimental to respiratory and heart health by infiltrating the bloodstream through the lungs and causing inflammation.

The level of PM 2.5 indoors should stay at or below 12 micrograms per cubic foot for the air to be considered healthy to breathe. Participants' homes had an average of 13.8 micrograms per cubic foot of PM 2.5.

At the end of the experiment, all participants with active HEPA and carbon filters had improved markers of heart health, specifically a 25% increase in heart rate variability. Participants without the active filters saw no increase.

Among participants who used the air purifiers with active filters 100% of the time while at home, there was also a 105.7% increase in a heart health variability measure called the root mean square of successive differences between normal heartbeats.

The team also looked at the effects of ultrafine particles in the homes. These particles can even cross into the bloodstream.

In their evaluation, the researchers uncovered a correlation between an increase in ultrafine particles and poorer heart health markers, such as lower heart rate variability.

[ConservativeMind]

It looks important for COPD sufferers to have really good air filtration, and it probably wouldn’t hurt the rest of us.

[ConservativeMind]

There is a good, inexpensive substitute that has much more airflow and will iterate to HEPA-type cleansing. I previously posted on this, here:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4088133/posts

[ConservativeMind]

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[Secret Agent Man]

Good article.

[logi_cal869]

Oh, come on, man.

You & I both know that the modern household is a cocktail of chemical antagonists and that a filter is, at best, a Band-Aid for a lousy health situation for someone with impaired health symptoms as serious as COPD living in today’s toxic environment we label ‘home’.

At a minimum - in addition to generous fresh air - plants should be a greater priority than an inefficient filter, plus ridding the living space of all sources of off-gassing.

[kabar]

Bookmark

[matthew fuller]

I need to clean up my air filtration, I am absolutely sure. Thanks for posting this one, especially.

[thinden]

Bttt

[MayflowerMadam]

We have a few of those in the house because they help our cat that has allergies. No doubt they’re helping us, too.

[MayflowerMadam]

I remember that thread — interesting.

[mad_as_he$$]

“... our cat that has allergies.”

Is the cat allergic to humans?

[kelly4c]

Bkmk

[MayflowerMadam]

“Is the cat allergic to humans?”

LOL!

[Hermes37]

IMneverHO the article switched cubic feet with cubic meters.
(I know it is against common FR practice to read the article but I’m a contrarian :-)

I have a few PM detectors.
They all measure ug/m^3 NOT ug/foot^3
There are 35.28 cubic feet in 1 cubic meter.
12 ug/foot^3 = 423 ug/m^3
423 ug/m^3 of 2.5 micron particles is a LOT.

I have emphysema(COPD) and I do advocate for filtered air.
Part of my body’s retaliation for the abuse I volunteered for is athsma and allergies in old age on top of the emphysema. Some things I used to tolerate I simply can not tolerate any more. Many perfumes in household products are no fun either.
A filter with activated charcoal can grab many of theese irritants too.

I make my own air filter machine out of a Lasko 20” box fan and a 20”x20”x5” furnace filter taped to the input side of the fan. I spend about US$ 50.00 for 1 MERV 13 filter on amazon. (the new Lasko fans are junky though)
Next refill will be with a MERV 16 filter at over US$100.00 each (just for a replacement furnace filter), ouch!

A filter lasts me many months. I measure the particles so I do not discard the filter too soon.

I am happy with the return on my investment.
It made some improvement in my quality of life.
YMMV