Healthy lungs: 5 rules for winter

Breathing well, as we know, is essential to stay healthy and yet, still too often we tend to underestimate the importance of take care of the lungs. Even and above all in winter, a season that represents the most critical period for the respiratory health.

What to do then? The useful tips come, once again, from the countryside Protect your lungs, promoted by Zambon Italy and relaunched now in a new one winter edition.

The aim of the initiative is to raise awareness of good practices to follow in daily life for protect your lungs in winterwhen they are more at risk of respiratory infections. Cold, humidity but also a long stay indoorsin fact, they can pose a threat to the respiratory system in this period. For a number of reasons that are worth remembering.

The effect of cold on the immune system

The Freddo is enemy number one, since it inhibits some important defense systems of the organism from viruses and bacteria, reducing their immune response.

«Cold ambient temperatures favor a greater transmission and development of respiratory infections due to alterations of the “mucociliary clearance”an important defense mechanism of the respiratory tract capable of contrasting and blocking the entry into the lungs of foreign bodies and pathogens such as viruses and bacteria”, explains Maria Pia Foschino Barbaro, Full Professor of Diseases of the Respiratory System – University of Foggia, Polyclinic of Foggia, as well as curator of the handbook Breath travel – winter edition.

Not only that, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Northeastern University, low temperatures cause a substantial decrease in extracellular vesicles present in the nose: these are real “guardians” capable of neutralizing viruses before they can infect cells. It goes without saying that lacking the natural filter of the nose, in winter, i lungs are particularly prone to infections.

Other risk factors

To all this, we must add exposure to the most usual risk factors.

«To the risks associated with the action on the body of the low temperatures typical of winter must also be added i factors that damage the lungs all year roundas the smoke, pollution and the action of free radicals which are the basis of oxidative stress», he adds Foschino Barbarian. “That’s why, especially in winter, it is important to adopt precautions and have good habits that help the body to counteract oxidative stress».

How to do?

here is the handbook with the 5 moves to better face the coldest weeks and protect the lungs.

1. Protect your mouth and nose (and breathe in through your nose)

First rule: mouth and nose they must be kept covered outside, so as not to expose them to sudden changes in temperature, but also in crowded closed places, where it would be useful to wear a mask. It is also important to prefer breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. This because the nose is a natural filter: the air that passes through the nose and arrives in the lungs already heated and humidified, has a protective bronchus function compared to that which arrives directly from the mouth.

2. Minimize the risk of infections

Fundamental too adopt some good prevention habits as avoid sudden changes in temperaturewash your hands often, cover your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing, change the air frequently in the premises and eat fruit and vegetables. Also use the vaccinations which, although not available for all viruses and bacteria that threaten respiratory health, represent a first line of defence to avoid even serious complications, especially for the elderly and children.

3. Quit smoking

There is no worse enemy for lung health than smoking. «The winter months, precisely because of the low temperatures that don’t encourage you to go outside to smoke, could represent the right time to stopindeed, underlines the doctor Foschino Barbarian. Without considering that, according to the data, an adult smoker between 55 and 64 years old has a probability of 40% above average to develop chronic respiratory disease over the next 10 years.

4. Check the air quality

Spending more time indoors also requires check the air qualityboth in terms of humidity, which must not be too low, and in terms of quality. In fact, temperature and humidity play a decisive role in the modulate the immune responses of the respiratory system. A good rule is therefore that of ventilate the rooms often and clean air conditioner filters. Self the air is too dry due to the heating it is recommended to use the humidifiers.

5. Fill up on antioxidants

Oranges, clementines but also cauliflower, radicchio and rocket: they should never be missing from the winter table fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins and antioxidants. Some micronutrients they have in fact demonstrated theirs beneficial effects on the immune system and theirs antioxidant propertiesable to counteract the accumulation of free radicals and therefore the development of the so-called oxidative stress, which involves a increased risk of lung damage. In fact, aging affects the whole body: just think that, after the age of 25, when the respiratory system reaches its full developmenti lungs become stiffer over time and gradually lose their functionality, even in the absence of disease.

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