Even with cold lung patients should walk a lot outside

Strengthen the immune system: Pulmonary patients should also go for a walk in the cold
In the current cold weather, few people like to go outside. In particular, patients with lung diseases avoid low temperatures, as their complaints often amplify. Nevertheless, a daily walk is recommended for her to strengthen her immune system.

Take a walk daily
Although the weather will soon be much milder, at present there is still bitter cold in many parts of the country. People who suffer from lung diseases like COPD or asthma do not have to take care of the house. Instead, they should go for a walk every day to strengthen their defenses. That recommends the Federal Association of Pulmonologists (BdP) on the Internet portal "pulmonary doctors in the network".

People with lung diseases often suffer from increasing complaints in the cold. You should still go for a walk every day and breathe through a cloth or scarf. (Image: Halfpoint / fotolia.com)

Exercise does lung disease good
COPD, also called smoker's lung, is one of the most common diseases worldwide. According to estimates by the German respiratory league, about three to five million citizens in this country are said to have contracted it.

According to the medical profession, bronchial asthma affects around nine percent of the adult German population.

Health experts generally advise patients with lung disease to move rather than to spare, and lung sports also help people with lung diseases.

Complaints at low temperatures
However, lung patients often suffer from increasing discomfort at low temperatures, as the bronchi contract when cold air is inhaled.

These are already narrowed in lung patients with, for example, asthma or COPD anyway. Therefore, it can lead to increased symptoms such as coughing and shortness of breath.

However, this does not mean that those affected would be forced to stay indoors only in the cold. "Rather, a daily walk in the fresh air would be recommended to strengthen the immune system," said the chairman of the BdP, Dr. med. Andreas Hellmann.

Breathe through a cloth or a scarf
To avoid respiratory problems - especially if the air outside is not only cold, but also still foggy - lung patients should, for example, inhale and exhale through a scarf or a cloth.

"This warms and humidifies the air before inhaling," Dr. Hellmann. "Mist and thus the greater humidity of the air can be a problem when the mucous membranes absorb too much water. Then the mucous membranes swell and in turn narrow the bronchi ", says the doctor.

According to the expert, this effect can be prevented by inhaling a saline solution because the salt prevents swelling.

Ventilate regularly at home
Dr. Hellmann advises asthmatics to take a bronchodilating spray as a precaution, as the very transition from warm rooms to the cold outside can make breathing difficult.

"With a stroke from the asthma spray can be well before leaving the apartment well," said the expert.

The apartment should be ventilated regularly, "to avoid too dry heating air, which can lead to dehydration of the airway mucosa and thus in turn to more coughing, but also to a reduced defense against infection", explained Dr. med. Hellmann. (Ad)