This Healthy Lung Month, take steps to increase your ability to keep moving and to feel your best:
Quit smoking. One of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s six pillars for good health is avoiding risky substances. Among those risky substances, of course, is tobacco. It is challenging to quit, but you can find many supports to help you with this important goal. Quit Now Indiana is a free service (1-800-784-8669 or 1-800-Quit-Now). According to “Your Lungs and Exercise,” a 2016 factsheet in the series Breathe produced by the European Respiratory Society, you may have an increased ability to exercise just two weeks after quitting.
While health is the most important reason for quitting smoking, there is also a financial benefit. As of July, the tax on cigarettes in Indiana has increased dramatically: three times what it was before. Other tobacco products have jumped in price as well.
Exercise. If you are not exercising now, start gradually, building up to 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity (21 to 22 minutes daily). While it might seem hard to fit in, consider that this time is just a small fraction of the 1,440 minutes in a day.
Consider checking the U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI) before planning outdoor activities, including exercise. We are lucky enough to be out of the range of the forest fires that injure the quality of the air for weeks on end, but we still have days in Indianapolis when the air outside is unsafe. Go to airnow.gov, plug in your zip code, and see if the air quality has reached “unhealthy” levels (151-200) before going out. If you are in a sensitive group, the level will be lower for you (101-150).
Dust your home. It may not be a favorite activity, but regular dusting can improve indoor air quality, so much so that the American Lung Association even includes instructions on good dusting techniques on their website at lung.org.
Practice diaphragmatic (or belly) breathing exercises. According to the Cleveland Clinic, you will especially benefit if you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma or if you frequently cope with stress or anxiety. You can find quick instructions on this method at health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/learning-diaphragmatic-breathing.
Get lung cancer screenings (low-dose CT scans) if you fit all three of the criteria set by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force: (1) between the ages of 50 and 80 (2) a current smoker or have been within the past decade and a half and (3) have a 20 pack-year history or more, which means, for example, smoking (on average) a pack a day for two decades or two packs daily for one.
Taking care of your lungs will make it far more likely that you can keep doing the activities you love long-term. Consider taking at least one of these steps today.
Broderick Rhyant, M.D., chief physician executive with Eskenazi Health Center Grande
