How clean is the air we breathe?

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

- CHIT U. JUAN

My doctor's orders — change your environment! Has your doctor ever asked you to move home or have a change of environment? Mine just did. I have been complaining of asthma and had to see the doctor to make sure it was not a bad infection. Lungs are clear but congestion is still there. I remember a friend who was advised to move to Singapore to get rid of her allergies and her asthma. Though that would be a nice move for me (and if I could afford it), I think the next best thing to staying in an urban condominium is to go to the farm. And as my doctor says: change your lifestyle even for just a week!

This pulmonologist just does not write you a prescription for drugs, he writes you a prescription for lifestyle. He asked me how I felt after what should have been just a transient viral infection. After 10 days of not being well, he does not think it will resolve naturally, unless I change my environment. And I will do just that!

Sometimes the best medicine is really clean air, a fresh breeze and being with Nature. So off I went to seek fresher cleaner air, although just a few miles away from the city. Believe it or not, just 30 kilometers outside does wonders. I could breathe well without air conditioning, then with it (as the noon sun started to heat up) and everything was OK.