The truth about the impact of heating on your health

Do you enjoy a nice warm home after turning on the heating? (I know it. I know it too. It’s okay to admit it.)

Okay, I’m sorry. You cannot enjoy beautiful things and you need to worry. “Turning on the heater can lead to seven health problems,” warned a headline this week.

Meanwhile, the station, informed by the same source, reported a “cold wave warning” and told us that “central heating systems can cause seven serious health problems.”

Turning on the heating is a controversial topic – when is it too early? – with higher scores, making it even more controversial. But who would have thought that when playing with the thermostat you would have to consider the impact on your health?

Is there something going on here? The first problem is that the reports reflect the opinion of only one physician working in a brick-and-mortar pharmacy.

But he is a doctor, and I am not. Maybe he’s up to something?

The first health problem mentioned is asthma. It is claimed that the drier air in your home caused by turning on the heating can dry out your airways and cause irritation.

There are good reasons to believe this. But guess what can cause asthma? Cold air. A number of studies have shown that cold air narrows the airways, not so much that it would be noticeable with normal lung function, but in asthmatics it can cause symptoms such as coughing and shortness of breath.

In general, asthma and temperature move in opposite directions: hospitalizations for asthma decline in the summer and fall, peak in the winter and spring, and then decline again.

What’s more, what little evidence we have suggests that more heating would be better for asthmatics: a small study in New Zealand found that children whose parents had better heating installed in their home were less likely to attend school over the next few years, did not attend school for years. . concepts.

So if you or your children are asthmatics, it may be best to turn up the heating.

Several other health problems are also associated with extremely dry indoor air with central heating. This may cause itchy eyes or nosebleeds due to dry nostrils. Of course it’s plausible, but not enough.

Eczema outbreaks are more severe due to drier skin. On the other hand, people with eczema often experience flare-ups during the summer months due to sweating, so it doesn’t just happen when the heating is on.

As with all side effects of anything we do or use, you have to weigh these disadvantages against the benefits.

The effect of central heating on any of these health problems is probably very small. The inconvenience of sitting in a very cold room and communicating with your family through hazy clouds of water vapor is probably even worse.