In Sickness & In Health

Can you say yes to a healthier, happier life with less pollution?

Cleaner air would mean less:

asthma and bronchitis

heart disease
respiratory infections
lung cancer
tuberculosis
emphysema
chronic respiratory disease
diabetes
heart attacks and strokes
kidney disease
neurodegenerative diseases (i.e., dementia)
low birth weight infants
reproductive ailments

“all of which can lead to premature death”

"Scientists have ... found ... pollution traveling from a pregnant mother’s lungs into the placenta."

“To a disturbing extent, babies are [being] born ‘pre-polluted.’ ”

https://www.ccjm.org/content/90/4/221

Monitor your local air pollution with the Air Quality Index (AQI). It measures 5 "major pollutants ...

ozone, particle pollution (called particulate matter), carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide."

To find the current AQI near you, go to: airnow.gov

Meat/Diet:

Let's encourage everyone to be healthy:

"You don't need to eat red meat to get ... essential nutrients."

"Red meat ... is associated with an increased risk of ...

- cardiovascular disease,

- colorectal cancer, and

- type 2 diabetes."

A vegan diet is a vegetarian diet without the dairy.

Vegans have:

- lower cholesterol

- lower blood pressure and a

- lower risk of heart disease and stroke

For more on healthy eating visit the Food page.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Health_effects_of_pollution.png#/media/File:Health_effects_of_pollution.png

The following tips are for safety and health during extreme weather events:

Fires, Hurricanes, Floods, and Heat.

Wildfire Preparedness:

Firefighters risk their lives trying to keep us safe (see Obituaries page).

We can assist them by following their advice!

Go to the website of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology.

Scroll down to the What You Can Do section.

“Fire-proof” your yard and home.

Hurricanes:

"Follow evacuation orders."

Most hurricane-related deaths are from some type of flooding:

Floods:

"Review your evacuation plan so that you can leave quickly."

"Plan and practice a flood evacuation route with your family:

Don’t Drown, Turn Around!

- Get your home ready

- Create an emergency supply kit

- Prepare a food and water supply"

Heat:

"Heat triggers respiratory distress ... cardiovascular events, disrupted sleep and impaired cognition."

Heat illnesses can kill. Not sure which heat illnesses are which? Find the details at this: site.

Keep cool during extreme heat waves:

- Find an air-conditioned building
- "Don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink"
- And "drink more water than usual"

Visit this link for more suggestions.

For someone in significant danger,

most advice includes the following:

- Call 911

- Move to a cool place

- Loosen clothes

- Apply wet cloths or get in tub/shower

- Sip water

- Spray with a mist and stand near fan

Trigger warning: the following links lead to disturbing photos / stories.

In December of 2019, wildfires in Australia killed thousands of koala bears (seen in background photo) - often burning to death.