BODY WATCH

Fighting Asthma in the Home

You keep threatening to tidy up the house. Here’s an incentive: your child’s health.

Asthmatic children suffer unduly from certain substances at home. Identifying the culprits can also help the physician prescribe the most effective medication and treatments.

A few top offenders:

* Tobacco smoke. Children living in households with smokers tend to have higher incidence of asthma.

* Dust mites. Organisms proliferate in a warm, damp atmosphere. A clean house helps get rid of them.

* Cleaning supplies and personal hygiene products. Some chemicals and scents trigger asthma attacks. Use non-spray cans.

* Plants. Greenery needing a lot of water often hosts molds and fungi, which could aggravate the child’s condition. Choose plants that need a minimum of water and keep them out of the child’s bedroom.

* Medication. Check with the pediatrician before doling out over-the-counter drugs.

Lid Implant Aids Blinking

You blink about every five seconds. Twelve times a minute, a thin film of slightly salted fluid coats your eyeballs. But some people can’t blink at all due to medical conditions that affect the upper and lower eyelids. The cornea can become dry and ulcerated and result in a loss of vision. Artificial tears and eye ointments provide a partial solution.

So you’re thinking: Implants?

Thin, solid gold implants in the upper eyelid can help restore blinking. The implants weigh a fraction of an ounce, sufficient heft to pull the eyelid down periodically. The muscles that keep the eye open almost always remain functional. They pull the eyelid back up until the next blink.

A thin layer of tissue (hard-palate mucosa) from the roof of the mouth is embedded in the lower lid. This implant cannot help the lower lid move (it normally moves up slightly when we blink) but it can raise the lid enough to protect the lower part of the eye.

Guidelines for Lowering High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure sneaks up on you. So does old age. Oftentimes, the two are in unison.

So the National High Blood Pressure Education Program--administered by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute--has launched an education campaign to help Americans prevent high blood pressure with weight control, increased physical activity, reduced salt and sodium, and alcoholic drinks in moderation.

For recorded information and free publications, call (800) 575-WELL.

Take Precautions With Outdoor Summer Activities

Exercising al fresco can prove hazardous in the summertime. Outings at high noon are the worst, thanks to smog, heat and traffic. Bicyclists and skaters should wear helmets; skaters also need wrist, knee and elbow pads. Walkers and runners are safer in highly visible clothing, such as reflective vests after dark. Avoid headphones, face the traffic if there’s no sidewalk and drink water.

Hot weather with relative humidity of more than 70% means that sweat cannot evaporate so it doesn’t cool your body. That’s why mornings are best for exercising during hot weather.

* This health roundup, compiled by C.A. Wedlan from wire service reports, appears in Life & Style on Tuesdays.