Air quality issues are coinciding with allergy season, Premier Health physician says

DAYTON — The air quality across Ohio and the Miami Valley region, made worse by the forest fires in Canada, is creating issues because it is coinciding with allergy season, a Premier Health pulmonary physician said Thursday.

> > RELATED: First-ever Air Quality Advisory issued for all of Ohio

The coincidence means those who are living with conditions such as asthma and COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) could be affected, Dr. Jennifer Clune told News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis, and that’s why she is advising her patients who have those conditions to remain indoors -- with the windows closed.

The best course is for her patients, and anyone else who suffers with those conditions, to remain in the cleanest air environment possible, she said.

Clune also said while it is difficult to prove whether the air quality is causing an uptick in problems patients at her practice are reporting, some of them are telling her they believe the connection is affecting them.

“I will say that just anecdotally in my office in the last week I’ve had patients say they’re coughing a little more, they feel a little tighter, they’re limited a little more in their day-to-day breathing because they’re presuming it’s related to some of the fire-related air quality issues.

If you want to check the air quality index, here’s a link to the Regional Air Pollution Control Agency.

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