Wondering how to look after your lungs in Birmingham?
We know that at times it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to making positive lifestyle changes that affect your lung health. That’s why we have compiled this list of resources, as well as tips surrounding how you can look after your lungs in Birmingham, during Love Your Lungs Week and beyond!
What is Love Your Lungs Week?
This week (21st-27th of June) represents Love Your Lungs Week, organised by the British Lung Foundation. This year, the focus is on celebrating the ways in which we love our lungs, in light of the difficulties of the pandemic upon those with lung conditions. It also works towards how we will continue to love them going forward. If you are interested in getting involved, you can find out how to join the campaign this week and beyond here.
How can you look after your lungs in Birmingham?
According to the BLF, there are several ways in which you can look after your lung health, both preventatively and as a sufferer of lung conditions.
These include:
Avoiding Smoking
The chemicals within tobacco smoke, such as hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide and ammonia can damage your lungs. They can even lead to heart attacks, strokes and cancer. Stopping smoking will not only improve your health in the long term, it will also decrease the risk of those around you developing diseases, as a result of second-hand smoke inhalation.
Staying active
Staying active can actually work to improve not only your breathing, but also your mental wellbeing. This can be especially helpful in terms of maintaining motivation when suffering from lung conditions, offering a sense of control. You can find out more about exercising and looking after your mental wellbeing in our previous blog post.
Incorporating physical activity into your daily life can help you to maintain a healthy weight, as well as improving your energy levels and resistance to infections. Ultimately, it will help to reduce the risk of health complications such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers.
Eating well
It is important to maintain a well-balanced and varied diet, as well as a healthy body weight to support your lungs and your immune system.. You can discern whether you are considered to be a healthy weight using a BMI calculator such as the NHS one.
Whatever your weight, a balanced diet will help you to stay healthy. For example, incorporating plenty of fruits and vegetables will give you the vitamins and minerals needed to support your immune system. This, in turn, will help you to fight off any potential chest infections. Getting plenty of proteins, through foods such as ones containing dairy, also helps to strengthen your chest muscles. This allows your ribs to expand as you breathe.
Resources for further guidance and support
If you, or someone you know, suffers from a lung condition, we have included a list of helpful resources below:
– BLF support for coronavirus and lung conditions
– British Lung Foundation Helpline
– Asthma UK tool for checking your risk of an asthma attack
Your Saydon family is here for you, whenever you need us.
Contact or visit us for support and advice today.
This blog post was written on behalf of Saydon Pharmacy by Carla Moore from Pharmacy Mentor.