Salt water....

[anonymous]

So is it better for a person with CF to be near salt water? I have heard various opinions on this, also humidity. We live in OHio right now and we might be moving to Florida. Anyone have any thoughts on humidity, saltwater ect..... We have humidity here but it is only nice a few months out of the year so would it be a difference down there??

Also if anyone lives there I would love to hear about the CF center down there...

Thanks alot!!

 

[NoExcuses]

I know that Australian surfers have lungs that feel better (that's how hypertonic salene was introduced for CF patients). I personally feel great near the water as well, and that's why I'm hoping to move to a cool climate near the ocean like San Francisco or Seattle.

 

[cdale613]

I seriously doubt that the salt in the air at the coast is of a high enough concetration to have a huge impact on a CFers health. If it were, the patient populations at the coasts would look statistically very different (older, higher pft's, etc.)... but they don't.

Personally, I feel the worst in high humidity. I lived in Washington DC for two years, and the summers (April-Oct) were just aweful. I have moved back to the the Northeast, and am much happier-- the humdity still comes, but there are fewer days of it, and the mornings/evenings are generally pleasant.

I've traveled to FL, and can't imagine living there.

Have you tried hypertonic saline? It would give you any benefit of the ocean... 7% is roughly twice the concentration of sea water. I've been using it for three months, and have had fantastic results.

Chris

25 w/ CF

 

[anonymous]

I do normally feel better with warm weather and at the ocean. In Germany there are rehabilitations/cures for cfers, which take place at the North Sea or the Dead Sea in Israel or Gran Canaria (Canary islands in front of Africa, belonging to Spain). Normally the results are very good, thats why the stays are sometimes payed by our insurance.

Uli,43,Germany

 

[anonymous]

Wow, I have never heard of that!! That is very interesting. I have 20 mth old twins with CF which is why I am asking because we dont want to move down there if it makes them feel worse, of course little ones(that little) cannot tell you if they feel bad down there ect.....

Thanks for the replies!

 

[JennifersHope]

I have always loved being in the ocean or by it.. I do seem to cough a bit more but in the long run, my breathing is so much better.

Jennifer

 

[anonymous]

I feel worse in the high humidity as well. I was surprised to hear people say they like the high humidity. For me I can barely breath. I find near the ocean to be the best. The salt air maybe over exaggerated, but I also think the coast is benificial because there is usually aways a breeze for good air movement and the obvious, you are at sea level where your O2 sats will be highest.

 

[nobody]

I lived in Florida for 2-3 years (before I knew about CF). I didn't know why then but I did feel better while there. My CF Doc tells me that the salt water does make a small difference. Florida, on the coast, is a pleasant place to live.

 

[coltsfan715]

Hi there,

I don't know where it is that you are moving to in Florida, but my parents moved to North Florida when I was about 1.5 yrs old .. about 6 months after I was diagnosed. I am 23 now about to be 24 in July. I love it and the humidity doesn't bother me too much. The main thing that can be difficult is the heat and getting dehydrated if you are out in the heat alot - well that was a problem for me when I was younger anyway.

Many people say that dry weather is better for people with breathing problems but I have extreme difficulty going to dry climates. I have traveled to Arizona and was extremely short of breathe, traveling to Tennessee in the winter is difficult for me because it gets really dry I usually have to sleep with a humidifier and double up on aerosols; and when I have traveled to Pennsylvania and New Jersey all I do is cough because of the air (not really sure if it is drier or what but I cough non stop). I think alot of the problems people can have with climate depends on what their body is adapted too. I do know that I tended to be healthier in HS with fewer infections than I am now. I can also say that I went to the beach every other day (yes every other day - senior yr was a complete waste for me - I had 3 study halls) when I was in H.S. so I don't know whether that is the reason or not.

Also the studies that have brought Hypertonic Saline to the forefront indicate that CF patients in Australia that surfed were healthier than CF patients that did not surf - If you go by that then yes being around the ocean and the salt air can make a difference. I know when I am at the beach my nose always clears up and I do breath slightly easier.

Good luck with your move and I hope that things work out great.

Lindsey

 

[anonymous]

Thanks everyone. My husband looked up on the american lung association about air quality, ozone ect... and Ohio was on every list of the worst cities and florida was not on one of them. Also, the yearly humidity was just a bit higher there then here. We just went to Florida over the weekend (the gulf coast) clearwater-tarpon springs area and they had so much fun and they just loved it by the ocean. I dont know about the other side of florida, I have never been over there! I just hate the thought of switching their cf clinic since they have been at the same one since they were born. It is kinda weird to me. Do all cf clinics have the same routine or are they different. Like here we go home on IVs if they need them. Will that stay the same down there?<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif" border="0">

 

[anonymous]

I live in South Florida a few miles from the beach, and the saltwater is great for me, sometimes the humidity is bad- but i adjust to it very quickly. For me cold air is worse. Where are you thinking of moving too?

 

[anonymous]

We are really not sure but we are pretty sure we want to be in south florida somewhere It is so hard to figure out where to go when you are in a nother state. My husband has an uncle in Naples.

 

[catboogie]

i'm pretty sure there isn't an actual difference in life expectance for cfers living near or away from salt water. but it seems likely that breathing the salty air would be beneficial to quality of life.

 

[S]

well, the fact is is that the air quality near the ocean is better than the air quality inland. i have lived in newport beach and huntington beach, ca and there has not really been too many days that we were in a bad air situation. they have that color coded air quality chart--green, yellow, red--and 99% of the time the coast is in the green area. once in awhile we will have a "yellow" day, usually when the santa ana winds are blowing and all that crappy air from inland gets pushed towards the coast. the main reason the air is always clean is the breeze coming in off of the ocean. there is no pollution out in the pacific, so all that comes in is clean, clear air. then you can look a few miles inland and see the brown haze of smog that builds up. there are studies that show many kids coming down with asthma that live in large metropolitan inland cities just from the smog, but the coast never has a problem. so it's not really a case of the salt in the air, it's just that it is clean, unpolluted. my parents always made sure that we lived within spitting distance of the beach due to our cf and i think it has paid off tremendously in our overall health.

 

[anonymous]

Okay I can speak about South Florida, I was born here and have lived here all of my life, I am 30 years old. I went to Miami Childrens Hospital until I turned 18 and went to a private pulmonologist. He then dropped me and then I went to Jackson Memorial (which is University of Miami), the doctors are awesome and they recently opened a whole CF clinic!

I now live in WPB and go to St. Marys but I do not like it at all - I am currently tryiing to find a Private Pulmonlogist that will deal with adlt CF or I may make the switch back to Jackson Memorial. Here is the info on the hospital you may want to call-
University of Miami School of Medicine -- Batchelor Children's Research Institute
Miami, FL
Appointments: (305) 243-6641
Contact Info: Michael Light, M.D.

As for Naples its great and growing and beautiful over there as well, great for families- I think the closest center is Sarasota- its about a 2 hour drive. I will be happy to answer any questions.

 

[EnergyGal]

I moved from NYC to Florida when I was eighteen years old. I went to the university of miami and lived on my own, got a job, got married lived my life in the hot humid weather. It took a little getting use to but I managed to jog in the heat during five o clock in the evenings. I then moved to the beach in my parents condo and lived there for many years. When I got married I moved miles away from the beach and I sure do miss the beach. The salt air is great for the lungs.

I stayed much healthier in Florida vs. NYC and will never go back to NY. I am living in Florida with my new lungs. A warmer climate might be more conducive to some because they can do more outdoors, water skiing, wind surfing, swimming jogging and much more.

The humid weather might make a person with cf more aware of their lung disease because they might be coughing more easily as they might not dry out. Just a thought. when I started on pulmozyme, I felt I could breathe better on the really humid days.

I agree with the poster above that Jackson Memorial is the best for CF- Transplant care in Florida.
Risa

 

[PeterC]

Hello:

My name is Peter and I am 57 years old living with CF. I believe that you will feel better living close to the ocean but most of all you will feel a lot better breathing clean air. That means being aware of prevailing winds. Are you in the way of breezes that sweep over a city or areas of heavy industry or automobile traffic? Is there dust in the air from farming activity or frequant high winds? Are there any other sources of airborne polution you may not be aware of?


I spent the first 42 years of my life on a rollercoaster ride of sickness and health living in the suburbs 35 miles west of Boston. Even though I was surrounded by trees, fields, lakes and hills, the air was dirty because of industrial polution pushed by prevailing winds sweeping over New Jersy, New York and Pennsilvania.


My lungs were being damaged during the winter months from dirty cold dry air and in mid summer by the hot stagnant humid dirty air from industrial pollution. The first twelve years of my life were spent on this rollercoaster and then my folks purchased a summer home on Cape Cod in 1963. From then on, as long as I was spending a good part of the year on the Cape, I did pretty well.


So I started thinking, How would I do if I lived in a milder climate? Away from the industrial Northeast away from those cold dry winters. So in 1990, after the dirtiest summer on record for air quality in Massachussets, I moved with my wife to California and the wilds of Marin County, just 20 miles north of San Francisco, and the freshest air I have ever breathed. The prevailing winds were off the Pacific Ocean and the only thing between me and the ocean was the tree covered hills of West Marin County. My health improved dramatically.


My stamina improved, I went back to work full time, the first time in five years and I gained weight. I was no longer fighting those ever present winter colds and and no longer struggling to breathe the dirty summer New England air.


I think the smartest thing a person with lung disease can do is to find clean air to breathe. Do whatever it takes!! It was not easy saying goodbye to my family and friends but it was the best thing I have ever done for my own well being. I am sure that if I had not moved to California when I did I would not be alive today.


I now live in a small town just two blocks from the ocean 30 miles south west of San Francisco and very happy to be here! I am in relatively good health and I am determined to keep going as long as I can continue to make choices about what I do with my life and what air I breathe.


Good luck to you and your family!!
Sincerely:

PeterC 57 / CF

 

[anonymous]

Peter, I just wanted to say thank you very much for your post. It was very inspiring to my husband and I. That is all we want to do is everything we can for our little girls! What you said and how you look at life only makes sense!!! I think we know what we need to do, we just wanted to hear something like this first! Thank you!!!!!

Good luck to you!!! Jay