1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,840 Prepare to have your health questions answered here on Safe, Effective, Natural Solutions 2 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:12,200 with Dr. Todd Binkley, owner of Binkley Healing Center in downtown Ventura. 3 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,400 Now, here's Dr. Todd. 4 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:16,400 Good afternoon. 5 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:21,000 I'm Dr. Todd Binkley, non-force doctor of chiropractic and practitioner of functional 6 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:22,000 medicine. 7 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:26,880 The focus of today's talk is going to be about the dangers of wildfire smoke. 8 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:32,520 My heart goes out to all of those who lost homes in the mountain fire just this past 9 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:33,680 couple of weeks. 10 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:39,920 Several other structures, a local beekeeper lost millions of bees that agriculture depends 11 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:40,920 on. 12 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:44,440 But the long-term effects affect us all. 13 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:52,120 From burning plastics and vinyl, furniture, cars, computers, other electronics full of 14 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:59,080 heavy metals and toxic chemicals, these things can blow hundreds, sometimes even thousands 15 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:04,560 of miles away and they end up blanketing the surface of the earth when that fine particulate 16 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:10,800 matter settles back down and can just cause problems for weeks and months after that. 17 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,920 For five years after the much more devastating Thomas fire, a lot of that stuff has still 18 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:19,600 been covering the surface of the earth and gets churned back up again any time a good 19 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:25,400 wind blows or any time somebody with a leaf blower turns it up near your house. 20 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,920 So if you've ever noticed yourself breathing a little more badly on a windy day, that's 21 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:30,920 a lot of that. 22 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:32,160 Finally, we got a respite. 23 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:37,400 We had some really good rains in January of this year, 2024, that washed a lot of that 24 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:38,400 away. 25 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:42,880 But of course now we've got a new coating from the mountain fire. 26 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,060 The best way to protect yourself from all this debris, of course, is to first close 27 00:01:46,060 --> 00:01:50,760 the windows, but a lot of people don't realize that a lot of that stuff gets in your house 28 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:54,880 anyway, especially if you sleep with the windows open even part of the time. 29 00:01:54,880 --> 00:02:01,920 So dusting, vacuuming, and having the carpets cleaned in your house is a very good idea 30 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,080 after a fire like this. 31 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:10,840 And most importantly, to get a HEPA filter is one of my main recommendations for anyone 32 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:16,920 who has post-nasal drip or is having any kind of an upper respiratory condition or a chronic 33 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:22,960 cough or just basically anyone who wants to be proactive and stay healthy. 34 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:29,340 It's a really good idea to breathe super clean air all night when you're sleeping. 35 00:02:29,340 --> 00:02:35,400 And the easiest way to make that happen is to get a HEPA filter, high efficiency particulate 36 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:37,820 air filter, especially for your bedroom. 37 00:02:37,820 --> 00:02:40,920 Some people like to put one in other rooms in the house, but if you're only going to get 38 00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:44,160 one, the most important place would be to put it in a bedroom. 39 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:49,160 And if you don't have one or if you haven't tried HEPA filter before, or if you have tried 40 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:55,040 them and found them to be noisy, there is a particular brand that I like that is really 41 00:02:55,040 --> 00:03:00,800 nice because it's super quiet on its quietest setting, but then you can crank it up on a 42 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:06,760 higher speed to do a routine cleaning or after vacuuming or if you've had the windows open. 43 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:14,120 And the brand is Medify, M-E-D-I-F-Y, and they make a nice size unit that's good enough for 44 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:16,440 one room. 45 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,240 I have a couple of them in the office and at home. 46 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:28,080 Their brand Medify model number MA25 is about $99 on Amazon. 47 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:29,480 And it's excellent because it's super quiet. 48 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:31,240 You can't even hear it when it's on the lowest setting. 49 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,020 You can just leave it running all the time in your bedroom. 50 00:03:34,020 --> 00:03:39,140 And then after dusting or vacuuming or a smoky day or anytime when it's been really windy, 51 00:03:39,140 --> 00:03:44,720 it's a good idea to close the windows and run it on medium or high for a few hours to 52 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:48,340 really clean out the air in your bedroom. 53 00:03:48,340 --> 00:03:49,520 So why is this so important? 54 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:54,240 Well, this is a paper that just came out in the medical literature by Mary Meyer, MD and 55 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:59,240 Master of Public Health Emergency Physician at the Permanente Medical Group and Laura 56 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:07,240 Myers, MD and MPH, a pulmonologist and intensive care specialist also at Permanente. 57 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:11,840 So these are both physicians with rich experience in the firsthand effects of treating people 58 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:17,960 that are exposed to wildfire smoke and the devastating things that can occur from it. 59 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:22,080 And one of the things that surprises people is valley fever. 60 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:27,760 Valley fever is a fungal infection that usually affects the lungs and is caused by a fungus 61 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:33,080 that lives in the soil in many parts of California, especially Ventura County and the surrounding 62 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:38,920 counties of San Luis Obispo, Kern, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. 63 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:43,820 Basically all the places that when they're on fire blow straight towards the ocean much 64 00:04:43,820 --> 00:04:49,820 of the year when the Santa Annas are blowing and blow all that smoke towards us. 65 00:04:49,820 --> 00:04:54,180 And so the spores from these fungus is that you may have heard or if you know anybody 66 00:04:54,180 --> 00:04:59,460 that members of your family that are firefighters, it's been something that's been known for 67 00:04:59,460 --> 00:05:03,880 quite some time now because even without the smoke when firefighters are digging up the 68 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:10,120 soil, especially if it's really dry to create fire lines and fire blocks, they're liberating 69 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:16,360 these fungus, fungus coxae from the soil that can cause valley fever, which sometimes can 70 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:22,040 be a minor infection, sometimes can lead to hospitalization, but even, you know, it can 71 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,600 be as devastating as causing death in certain individuals. 72 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:32,000 And I actually had a very good friend a couple of years ago who was otherwise very healthy 73 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:36,080 and ended up in the hospital with a severe lung infection. 74 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:40,480 And, you know, the most common lung infections are bacterial and viral. 75 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:47,440 And by the time they got around to finally figuring out what was causing his severe lung 76 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:51,400 infection, it was too late and he died from valley fever. 77 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:57,560 But even if you're not a firefighter digging up the soil, firefighting, the helicopters 78 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:03,280 and the wind associated with fires blowing on just dry soil and dependent on the fire 79 00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:10,240 itself can liberate these fungal spores from the ground and blow it many, many, many miles 80 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:19,840 away and increased incidences of valley fever are being reported with the increase in fires. 81 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:26,160 And fires, but also just hot, dry wind in places where it's disturbing dry soil and 82 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:30,840 blowing those fungi spores downwind. 83 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:35,900 So it may surprise you to know that you can get an infection from wind and wildfires, 84 00:06:35,900 --> 00:06:40,840 but we've known about for over half a century about the negative effects of all the debris 85 00:06:40,840 --> 00:06:47,220 and especially the fine particulate matter from fires and other sources since the Clean 86 00:06:47,220 --> 00:06:49,800 Air Act came out in 1970. 87 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:53,680 Detailed monitoring and various policies put into place by the Environmental Protection 88 00:06:53,680 --> 00:07:00,440 Agency have dramatically reduced, had dramatically reduced the general amount of particulate, 89 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:02,760 fine particulate matter that people are exposed to. 90 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:09,560 The technical term is PM25 particulate matter that's smaller than 2.5 microns. 91 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,440 This is smaller than a human hair. 92 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:18,480 And this is the most hazardous and the most ubiquitous fine particulate matter. 93 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:24,240 It's called particulate matter because it's actually a mix of tiny liquid and solid particles 94 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:26,920 less than the diameter of a human hair. 95 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:35,960 So it's both capable of carrying toxic chemicals and the physical debris from dust and it floats 96 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:36,960 in the air. 97 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:41,200 Smoke, anything that you can see floating in the air, it's suspended in the air, can 98 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:47,680 also travel large distances and when it gets near you, it travels deep, deep into the deepest 99 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:49,480 crevices of your lungs. 100 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:51,680 And that's what can make it so devastating. 101 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:56,720 It goes directly into the areas where oxygen enters your bloodstream. 102 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:01,760 The part of your lungs that is required to be vulnerable to let oxygen in is also letting 103 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,560 this particulate matter directly into your bloodstream. 104 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:11,640 This particulate matter has been linked to cardiovascular disease, asthma, chronic obstructive 105 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:14,760 pulmonary disease, other respiratory problems. 106 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:19,920 The World Health Organization has estimated that in 2019 exposure to fine particulate 107 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:25,680 matter was directly responsible for 4.2 million premature deaths globally. 108 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:30,360 So for a long time it was assumed that wildfire smoke was basically the same as any other 109 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:35,800 kind of air pollution from things that end up in the environment, in the air, especially 110 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:39,560 if you live near cities or places that are dusty. 111 00:08:39,560 --> 00:08:44,960 But in fact, since the incidence of wildfires keeps growing and growing, we're learning 112 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:51,400 that there are nuances to the wildfire smoke that are much worse than other types of smoke 113 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:53,320 that we're typically exposed to. 114 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:58,600 So if you just think about all the things that are in homes that burn or in cars that 115 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:07,880 burn, it's a mix of chemicals, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 116 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:15,040 hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and the heavy metals lead, arsenic, and mercury. 117 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:20,480 In one study, wildfire smoke was shown to be 10 times more toxic than the particulate 118 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:24,600 matter that is nearly always in the air around Southern California. 119 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:25,960 I'm Dr. Todd Benkley. 120 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:30,440 We're listening to safe, effective natural solutions to almost any health challenge, 121 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:35,240 talking today about the dangers of wildfire smoke and other forms of smoke and the best 122 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:39,880 way you can protect yourself from the damaging effects of it. 123 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:43,880 And this is going to become more and more important to know about because the incredible 124 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:49,600 drift of wildfire smoke fires all over the country. 125 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:55,080 Wildfires in Canada are affecting people hundreds and even thousands of miles away in America. 126 00:09:55,080 --> 00:10:00,000 And we have a rabbit a lot worse out here in the West, but it's becoming a phenomenon 127 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:01,880 almost the world over. 128 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:07,200 There are fires burning in peat under snow that burn all winter long that never go out 129 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:08,200 in Canada. 130 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:09,200 Unbelievable. 131 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:14,860 And it's long been assumed that the concentration of the various toxins dissipates the further 132 00:10:14,860 --> 00:10:18,320 the smoke travels, it becomes less concentrated. 133 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:24,880 But new data is showing that in certain situations, some pollutants such as ozone and other pollutants, 134 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:29,160 and other particulate matter from chemical oxidation, depending on the environment that 135 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:35,160 the smoke is traveling through actually increases as it blows down wind. 136 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:39,920 And as we mentioned before, bio aerosols, well, I didn't mention bio aerosol specifically, 137 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:46,480 but that's the technical term, but airborne fungus and even bacterial cells can be carried 138 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:48,000 through wildfire smoke. 139 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:54,400 So it used to be assumed that the high heat of a wildfire would incinerate any microbes, 140 00:10:54,400 --> 00:11:00,040 but we're now learning that pocket the degree of heat within a wildfire smoke is highly 141 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:07,000 variable and that microbes can survive in pockets of particulate matter and water vapor. 142 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:12,600 And they essentially hitchhike within that particulate matter to be deposited and inhaled 143 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:14,040 down wind. 144 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:20,100 And even if you don't get an infection directly from the smoke, if you have any damage to 145 00:11:20,100 --> 00:11:24,220 your lungs already, any kind of a chronic lung condition from exposure to various things 146 00:11:24,220 --> 00:11:28,480 or if you're one of the vulnerable people, if you're just having someone who's getting 147 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:36,480 a cold or a flu, every year 30 to 60,000 people a year die from the cold and flus. 148 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:38,920 These are statistics that lung preceded COVID. 149 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:44,760 I'm sure we've all heard more about COVID than we want to, but lung infections persist 150 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:52,040 in your risk of having a severe infection and ending up sick for weeks or months or 151 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:59,280 ending up in the hospital or God forbid dying from any common lung condition, lung infection 152 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:03,480 is also exacerbated by breathing smoke. 153 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:08,160 For about four decades, the standards established by the Clean Air Act forced a steady drop 154 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:14,480 in ambient particulate matter, reduced emissions from industry, car exhaust, all those smog 155 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:16,920 checks are actually making a difference. 156 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:23,640 If you live near a freeway or a major thoroughfare, there's still a lot of just generated by tires 157 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:27,520 rolling down the road, car tires, truck tires, bus tires. 158 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:32,260 And of course, lots of people still smoke cigarettes and marijuana and burn other things 159 00:12:32,260 --> 00:12:38,880 that create smoke and all smoke is fine particulate matter that damages lungs and increases risk 160 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:44,440 of heart disease and aggravates a host of other conditions like diabetes and certain 161 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:45,880 cancers. 162 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:50,820 And about 15 years ago, this trend toward reduced overall exposure to particulate matter 163 00:12:50,820 --> 00:12:53,600 started stagnating and reversing. 164 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,200 And so wildfire smoke is largely responsible for this. 165 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:04,540 Wildfire smoke is responsible for 25% of the country's particulate matter. 166 00:13:04,540 --> 00:13:08,760 And in Western states, up to half, so up to half of the particulate matter in the air 167 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:13,900 is from wildfires and that's only bound to increase. 168 00:13:13,900 --> 00:13:16,080 So we need to protect ourselves from this stuff. 169 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,160 Most people know to close their windows when they smell smoke, but even long after you 170 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:25,840 can't, like right now, the mountain fire has been largely put out. 171 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:30,360 The air in and around Ventura doesn't smell too bad right now unless you have a really 172 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:31,360 sensitive nose. 173 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,800 I was a kid, I was exposed to years of secondhand smoke. 174 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:36,600 My dad smoked about two packs a day. 175 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:43,360 The whole time I was growing up, I can smell burning cigarette from blocks away. 176 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:46,640 And the air around here, trust me, is still not really great. 177 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:50,760 I'm not saying anybody needs to, everyone needs to walk around outside wearing a mask, 178 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:52,120 but it would be a good idea. 179 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:58,560 I'm still keeping my windows closed and my HEPA filters cranked up and I recommend for 180 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:01,560 a lot of people to do the same. 181 00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:04,640 And I'm saying this as just a general health measure. 182 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:05,640 I don't have any allergies. 183 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,040 When the pollen count is high, it doesn't bother me at all. 184 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:15,360 But as an example, my mother had a chronic cough for many, many years, decades, because 185 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:19,800 of the secondhand exposure to smoke that she got from my father. 186 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:25,680 And years ago, I got her to have her carpets professionally cleaned and I sent her a really 187 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,120 good air filter for her home. 188 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,480 And she was actually reluctant, she listens to this, sorry mom, I hope you don't mind 189 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:36,360 me telling people this, she was reluctant to have her carpets cleaned because she vacuums 190 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:37,360 them all the time. 191 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,720 This is immaculate, it's ridiculously clean. 192 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:45,800 Anyway, a lot of people think that it's bad, sometimes people think that it's bad to have 193 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:49,040 your carpet cleaned because it gets it wet and could damage it. 194 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:55,000 And in fact, it's a bad idea to get a cheesy rental carpet cleaner that's not going to 195 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:56,000 dry it properly. 196 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:02,600 But getting your carpets professionally cleaned is actually required to maintain the warranty 197 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:04,280 on most carpets. 198 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:09,140 And carpets collect a lot of dust, even if you do vacuum really, really well, especially 199 00:15:09,140 --> 00:15:17,360 if you live in a place that is windy and have your windows open with any frequency. 200 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:22,680 So get a good HEPA filter, at least one in your bedroom, email me if you want the specifics 201 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:24,840 on the one that I recommend. 202 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,760 There's lots of good ones out there, there's also lots of bad ones that are either the 203 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:32,720 problems with the ones that are not so great, or sometimes they're too noisy, so you're 204 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:36,040 not going to want to run it all the time because it'll just be annoying to listen to the fan, 205 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,720 especially at night in your bedroom. 206 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:44,240 And HEPA filters are basically just an accordion shaped paper filter. 207 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:50,100 But the better ones on top of that accordion shaped paper filter have kind of a pantyhose 208 00:15:50,100 --> 00:15:55,320 like membrane, plastic screen like material. 209 00:15:55,320 --> 00:16:01,780 So if you have dust and lint and pet hair, it doesn't just immediately clog up the filter 210 00:16:01,780 --> 00:16:04,980 and destroy it, so you don't have to change the filters as often. 211 00:16:04,980 --> 00:16:08,240 So it ends up saving a lot of money and a lot of hassle changing the filters. 212 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:12,040 You might only have to change the filters maybe every three months instead of once a 213 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:13,040 month. 214 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:17,920 It just depends on the level of dust in your area and how often you have your windows open. 215 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:23,240 But the better filters are quieter, and they have filters that don't require the expense 216 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:27,040 and hassle of changing as frequently. 217 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,480 So anyway, my mother had this chronic cough for years. 218 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:34,680 I got her a good filter and had her carpets professionally cleaned. 219 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:41,000 And she didn't even notice for a while that she wasn't coughing as much at church. 220 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,160 She was in the church choir and she used to always cough when she got there. 221 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:48,640 And it was a place where it was pretty obvious if she's coughing in a quiet room and people 222 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:51,460 started mentioning, hey, you're not coughing anymore. 223 00:16:51,460 --> 00:16:52,460 And that really surprised her. 224 00:16:52,460 --> 00:16:56,340 And that was a few years ago now, so she's very happy. 225 00:16:56,340 --> 00:17:03,000 But anybody that has post-nasal drip or wakes up with a bunch of phlegm in their throat 226 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,160 has to blow their nose all the time. 227 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:09,940 Anything like that where phlegm is being produced by the lungs and you're coughing that stuff 228 00:17:09,940 --> 00:17:17,120 up or having to get rid of that, that is your body's natural response to inhalation of fine 229 00:17:17,120 --> 00:17:18,120 particulate matter. 230 00:17:18,120 --> 00:17:20,420 It's trying to get rid of it. 231 00:17:20,420 --> 00:17:26,720 And it does so by producing mucus, which you then have to eliminate by blowing your nose 232 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,080 or spitting it out. 233 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:35,600 So these are all things you can do to keep your home and work interior spaces free from 234 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:40,840 fine particulate matter, from smoke, and from the air in general. 235 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:43,880 It's also a good idea to take a look outside your house. 236 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,400 Well, actually inside still the duct work. 237 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:52,000 If you have an HVAC system, a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system that has ducts 238 00:17:52,000 --> 00:18:00,200 and vents around your house or around your office, those ducts get buildup of dust and 239 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:02,800 other things in them and should be professionally cleaned. 240 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:05,000 And I just had this done at my office recently. 241 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,400 I can recommend someone who does an excellent job. 242 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:10,920 They bring in equipment so that there's no mess. 243 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:12,400 They seal up everything. 244 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:13,680 They seal up each duct. 245 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:18,640 The thing that they stick in, they remove the grills and stick a fancy brush with a 246 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:20,000 big suction on it. 247 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:23,000 And they seal around that each time they're doing each one of those. 248 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:25,320 So they leave your house. 249 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:29,240 And my office looked as clean as it did before they started. 250 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:34,180 And the air was noticeably cleaner to breathe. 251 00:18:34,180 --> 00:18:35,800 So this is something you can check yourself. 252 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:39,100 Take the grill off of some of those vents in your house or your office. 253 00:18:39,100 --> 00:18:40,320 Take a look in there. 254 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:41,560 See what that looks like. 255 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:43,320 And consider having that cleaned. 256 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:46,720 It's also a good idea to have your roof cleaned. 257 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:49,840 So all that dust settles down on your roof. 258 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:51,960 And you can take a look at your roof. 259 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:54,760 Sometimes you can see that it's kind of dusty. 260 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:59,840 And in foggy areas like Ventura, near the coast, any place the north side of your roof, 261 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:02,520 mold is also a big issue on roofs. 262 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:09,180 So having your roof power washed, whether it's regular shingles or a tile, any kind 263 00:19:09,180 --> 00:19:11,320 of roof, that kind of stuff can accumulate on it. 264 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:15,640 Even if you have a flat roof that you can't see because there's a little parapet sticking 265 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:16,640 up around it. 266 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:21,360 You know, get somebody to climb a ladder or if you know somebody with a drone, there's 267 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:23,920 lots of ways to have all that chucked out. 268 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:26,440 And people even do that. 269 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,960 Roofing, cleaning companies do drone inspections. 270 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:32,960 Not that expensive even to have that done. 271 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:37,560 And they'll come out and power wash all of that stuff off for you. 272 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:39,080 I mentioned having the ducts cleaned. 273 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:44,560 It's actually important to have the filters, change the filters in your heating, ventilation 274 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:46,800 and air conditioning system as well. 275 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:54,560 And the best filter to get, the number that you want to look for is MERV 13, M-E-R-V. 276 00:19:54,560 --> 00:20:01,160 That's the standard term used, minimum efficiency reporting value to measure how much stuff 277 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:02,760 is filtered out by your filter. 278 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:05,920 And a lot of the cheap ones are MERV 8 or 10. 279 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:12,680 MERV 13 is enough to filter out COVID viruses and any other, 98% of any other viral particles. 280 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:17,240 But more important than that for most uses every day is to filter out this particulate 281 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,160 matter that I'm talking about all the time. 282 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:24,700 And sometimes you need to get a thicker than kind of the standard cheap ones. 283 00:20:24,700 --> 00:20:32,160 If you notice that when you put a new filter in your system and the air is getting noisier, 284 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:37,400 the fan is running harder or noisier than you might need to actually get a thicker actual 285 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:41,960 size of the filter that makes it easier for the air to move through. 286 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,400 That's all kind of technical, but it's important to check this stuff out. 287 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:49,280 Lastly, when you know you're going to be exposed to some of these things, if you're going to 288 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:56,500 be outside in a really windy dusty area or if you're working with wood dust, any kind 289 00:20:56,500 --> 00:21:02,500 of construction process, spray painting, as you know, most people that do this for a living 290 00:21:02,500 --> 00:21:04,920 wear what's called a respirator. 291 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:10,660 This is not your N95 mask and all those other horrible masks we were harangued to wearing 292 00:21:10,660 --> 00:21:12,960 even indoors during COVID. 293 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,960 But a respirator is that rubber-like thing that covers your whole mouth and nose with 294 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,980 two filters on each side, which are very similar to HEPA filters. 295 00:21:20,980 --> 00:21:29,040 And they filter out toxins, the volatile organic chemicals that are in paints and other chemicals 296 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:32,200 like that that you can otherwise smell. 297 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,240 The nice thing about those is you can actually breathe. 298 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:39,080 If you've never worn one of those and wondered, oh, I'm going to be out doing something dusty, 299 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,720 oh, you know, there's still a little bit of wildfire smoke in the air, even if you're 300 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:47,940 going to be doing a lot of gardening, if you're going to expose yourself to that stuff and 301 00:21:47,940 --> 00:21:52,660 you know that you felt worse later being out in any kind of environment where you're breathing 302 00:21:52,660 --> 00:21:57,720 in dust, then get a respirator and just have one on hand. 303 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:01,800 The nice thing about it, if you've never worn one of these before, is it's actually, it's 304 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:03,840 a little hat, it's a kind of a hassle to put it on. 305 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,800 This is the rubber mask that straps around your head with the two filters on each side, 306 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:09,720 cumbersome to put on. 307 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:13,360 But the good news is it's easy to breathe through them. 308 00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:16,760 If you've never worn one before, you'll be amazed how it's easier to breathe through 309 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:22,520 one of these because it has a vent, a one-way valve to let your air come out when you breathe 310 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:23,520 out. 311 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:28,160 It's much easier to breathe through a respirator than it is an N95 mask or anything else you 312 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,020 might strap on your face. 313 00:22:30,020 --> 00:22:33,480 So protect yourself from dust and toxic chemicals. 314 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:38,040 And if you or anyone you love suspects they might have been exposed to that. 315 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:44,920 Smokers, for example, don't wait until you have a chest x-ray or a CAT scan or some other 316 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:50,840 symptoms that identify that you have a severe chronic lung condition or, God forbid, lung 317 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:51,840 cancer. 318 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,440 If you notice any symptoms like that, get tested. 319 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:58,440 And so there are ways to test, for example, if you've been exposed to some of these chemicals, 320 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:03,780 the heavy metals that are in cigarette smoke like cadmium and that are in lots of things 321 00:23:03,780 --> 00:23:05,580 that we're all constantly exposed to. 322 00:23:05,580 --> 00:23:10,120 Heavy metals like lead, arsenic, cadmium, uranium, and mercury. 323 00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:16,220 There's a way to test this in a hair sample, just like you can test drugs in a hair sample. 324 00:23:16,220 --> 00:23:21,680 And also in the urine, there are other tests for various chemicals that are in the aerocells 325 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:22,680 that we've been talking about. 326 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:27,720 It's a good idea to find out about these things earlier than later. 327 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:32,760 Specifically, if you or someone you love has smoked for more than 10 or 15 years, it's 328 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:39,700 a good idea to get a low-dose CT scan, the standard means of early detection for lung 329 00:23:39,700 --> 00:23:40,960 cancer, especially for smokers. 330 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:46,800 It's long been just a regular chest x-ray, but there is a much more accurate, very low-dose 331 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:55,600 CT scan now that you can get for about $150 to identify the small cell carcinoma that 332 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:59,040 is the most common one from smoking much earlier. 333 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:03,640 So if you're having any kind of symptoms of excess phlegm, difficulty breathing, shortness 334 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:08,760 of breath, any other symptoms that might make you suspect that you need to get your lungs 335 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,040 checked out, I'd be happy to help you with that. 336 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,880 And please send me any other questions that you have about all the things that we've been 337 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,440 talking about today or any other health-related topic. 338 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:19,440 Thank you for tuning in. 339 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:20,720 Have a wonderful weekend. 340 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:27,080 Look forward to speaking with you right here next Friday at 2 p.m. on KDAR. 341 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:32,600 You've been listening to Safe, Effective Natural Solutions with Dr. Todd Binkley. 342 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:37,120 If you have a health question you want discussed on the show, email your health questions to 343 00:24:37,120 --> 00:24:41,680 drbinkley at binkleyhealingcenter.com. 344 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:46,400 Take advantage of this opportunity to ask questions for yourself and for your loved 345 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,360 ones because our health matters. 346 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:56,640 Join him next Friday at 4 p.m. for Safe, Effective Natural Solutions right here on 98.3 The 347 00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:07,920 Word, KDAR.