What should I pay attention to when using air conditioning for a long time in such hot weather?
Release date: July 2 6, 2006, Beijing News
Just after a slight summer heat, the summer days in Beijing are welcoming the peak of extreme heat. In order to resist the heat, air conditioning has become the protagonist in shopping malls, offices and homes. With the popularity of air-conditioning, the discomfort and diseases caused by staying in air-conditioned rooms for a long time are becoming more and more common, and air-conditioning disease has become an annual seasonal disease of modern urbanites.
The so-called "air conditioning disease" is actually a kind of long-term stay in an air-conditioned environment, because the air is not
A series of diseases caused by the failure to improve the circulation and environment are manifested as dizziness, fever, night sweats, weakness, memory loss, tight and dry skin, allergies, poor skin and other symptoms.
If you don't pay attention, no matter what your physical quality is, air-conditioned places may be infected with air-conditioning diseases. Our reporter Wang Yuanzheng photo
Recently, the reporter learned from Friendship Hospital, Chaoyang Hospital and Children's Hospital that due to people's dependence on air conditioning, respiratory, intestinal and joint diseases caused by air conditioning are increasing.
Doctors in the outpatient department of Friendship Hospital said that workers who often stay in air-conditioned environment, such as white-collar workers, shop assistants, drivers, etc., are all high-risk groups prone to "air-conditioning disease". In addition, the elderly and children with poor resistance also account for a considerable part.
Generally speaking, there are two main reasons for air conditioning disease. First, the indoor closed environment and the internal environment of the air conditioner itself are easy to breed all kinds of bacteria and molds; According to statistics, in a closed room with air conditioning on for five or six hours, oxygen decreased by 65438 03.2%, Escherichia coli increased by 65438 0.2%, and Rhodotorula. Increased by 65,438+0.65, 438+065, 438+0%, diphtheria sp. It has increased by 0.5%, and other bacteria harmful to the respiratory tract have also increased to varying degrees, and bacteria will increase. Another reason is that the temperature of air-conditioned rooms is much lower than the outdoor temperature in summer. Staying in an air-conditioned environment for a long time will shrink the pores on the surface of the human body and prevent it from sweating normally. Once the environmental temperature changes suddenly, it will cause endocrine disorders.
The doctor said: "If you don't pay attention, no matter how physical you are, there is a possibility of air-conditioning disease in places with air conditioning!" Therefore, it is as important to prevent "air conditioning disease" in summer as to prevent heatstroke.
the aged
Air conditioning tests the respiratory system of the elderly
● Recruiter: Chen Qi, 65 years old, retired cadre.
Symptoms: My wife and I usually go downstairs for a walk after dinner. Sometimes when we sweat in hot weather, we go home and blow the air conditioner to cool off, and then take a bath. But after a few days, I feel that there is a recurrence trend of senile bronchitis. Also, my wife and I always feel joint pain, especially around our shoulders.
Expert analysis:
Nie Huimin, chief physician of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, has weak physical adjustment ability, decreased immune function and poor disease resistance, which is easy to cause air-conditioning diseases.
Although the symptoms of chronic bronchitis, emphysema and asthma in the elderly are relatively relieved in summer, it is an undeniable fact that air conditioning tests the respiratory system of the elderly. Although it is cool in a closed air-conditioned room, the humidity is too low, which is not good for people's eyes and nasal mucosa. Dry environment is also easy for bacteria to multiply, and then invade the respiratory tract, leading to respiratory diseases. In addition, the difference between hot and cold inside and outside the air-conditioned room may also lead to the recurrence of some respiratory diseases.
Old people are sensitive to the change of cold and heat, and the joints on their bodies will trigger a series of reactions because of the change of temperature, such as pain in waist and leg joints, and even cause other diseases.
Coping strategies:
When staying in the air-conditioned room, 1 You can turn on the humidifier or put a basin of water indoors to avoid the irritation of dryness to the respiratory tract.
Enter the room from the outside, dry your sweat, and then turn on the air conditioner. The temperature of the air conditioner should not be too low.
Wear long-sleeved clothes and cover up at night. You can't turn on the air conditioner all night, but you should turn it on intermittently.
Because of the joint pain caused by staying in an air-conditioned room, you can add a little salt and vinegar to the cooked hot ginger soup, then soak it with a towel and wring it out and apply it to the affected area, which can relax the muscles, promote blood circulation and relieve the pain.
Dietary advice:
● Drink more cool drinks such as chrysanthemum tea, honeysuckle tea, mung bean soup and lotus seed tremella soup.
● Eat more melons, loofah vegetables, eggs, meat, milk and other rich foods in protein, and eat less frozen products.
children
Air-conditioned rooms are easy to cause the baby's immunity to decline.
● Admissions staff: Yuan Yuan, 3 and a half years old, small kindergarten class.
One day, after Yuan Yuan came back from kindergarten, she felt not quite right and listless. My forehead is a little hot, but my hands and feet are a little cold. The next day, my forehead was still hot and my nose was running. Maybe I accidentally caught a cold in kindergarten.
Expert analysis:
● Weng Qingxue, Health Management Department of New Century International Children's Hospital
In clinical medicine, it is found that children live in air-conditioned rooms for a long time, and the air is not circulating and the air quality is too poor, which is easy to breed pathogenic microorganisms, which leads to the decline of baby's immunity, and is also easy to catch a cold, have a fever, suffer from allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma and other diseases. In addition, because the baby's skin is thin and tender, the subcutaneous fat is less, the capillaries are rich, and the thermoregulation center is not fully developed. If the air conditioner is turned on too low, the baby's capillaries will contract, and the heat in the body will not be emitted, which may also cause diseases such as colds, fever and cough.
Coping strategies:
1 Don't eat more cold drinks and fruits, and eat less food just taken out of the refrigerator.
2 Strengthen the management and maintenance of air conditioners, and regularly check and clean the filter membrane and cooling plate of air conditioners.
3 Half an hour before taking the baby out, it is best to turn off the air conditioner and open the window to ventilate the room so that the baby can adapt to the temperature change.
When sleeping at night, put on long pants and cover your baby with a thin quilt or towel, especially when your stomach is tight.
The baby should wear socks in the air-conditioned room to prevent his feet from catching cold.
Dietary advice:
● Eat more foods rich in vitamin A, such as carrots, Chinese cabbage, spinach, leeks, animal livers and egg yolks, and eat more foods rich in zinc, such as fish, eggs, livers, beans and grains. , can improve the baby's immunity and avoid contracting air-conditioning diseases.
office worker
Women are more vulnerable to air conditioning than men.
● Inviter: Chen Haixia, aged 27, clerk of foreign company's office in China.
Symptoms: I have always been dizzy and weak recently, often coughing inexplicably, and I have no appetite for eating. Sometimes I feel like vomiting when I see food, but I can't spit it out when I get to the bathroom. At first, my family thought I was pregnant, but I couldn't detect it with test paper.
Expert analysis:
Rui Liu, doctor of Beijing Puren Hospital.
Generally speaking, white-collar workers and shop assistants who stay in air-conditioned environment for a long time are prone to air-conditioning diseases, and women are more likely to get sick than men. This is because in many companies, women's "work clothes" are knee-length skirts and short-sleeved shirts, and women also like to wear open-toed high-heeled sandals, so they naturally feel "cold".
Once the feeling of "cold" reaches the thermoregulatory center, skin blood vessels will contract, sweat glands will stop secreting, and heat dissipation will be reduced to maintain body temperature. At the same time, the feeling of "cold" will excite people's sympathetic nerves, lead to vasoconstriction in abdominal cavity, weaken gastrointestinal movement, and thus appear symptoms of gastrointestinal discomfort and loss of appetite. In addition, it can also cause endocrine disorders and menstrual disorders in women.
In addition, many companies use central air conditioning, and the air inlet and air outlet are relatively secret, which is not particularly easy to clean, and it is easy to breed bacteria and germs. When the air conditioner is turned on, germs will spread in a closed space with the wind, and people are easy to get sick.
Coping strategies:
1 The temperature in the office is preferably around 25℃. Turn on the air conditioner for a few hours, open the window to get some air, or put a few pots of green plants in the office to increase the oxygen content in the room.
The desk should be avoided under the tuyere, and the temperature under the tuyere is generally 3-4 degrees lower than that indoors.
Put some long-sleeved trousers or towels in the office. Once you feel cold, you can put it on or put a towel on your knees to keep warm. Stand up and exercise every once in a while to improve the blood circulation of peripheral nerves.
Take a hot bath after coming home from work, raise the water temperature, massage the whole body and restore the blood circulation of the body.
Dietary advice:
● You can bring some shredded ginger and soak in water before going to work.
● Bring honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, rehmannia and other boiled water to the unit to drink tea, so as to clear away heat and detoxify.