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October is Healthy Lung Month, with Respiratory Care Week falling on Oct. 25-31 and Lung Health Day on Oct. 28. November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month and the Great American Smokeout will be held Nov. 19. Those of us with lungs have a lot to ponder in the upcoming weeks!

One issue worth pondering is air quality. If you are concerned about the air quality in your area, go to http://www.stateoftheair.org and type in your zip code. Each county is given a grade based on its level of air quality in the areas of high ozone days and particle pollution.

The most common chronic lung disorder in children is asthma. Infants and children, especially those with lung diseases like asthma, are particularly at risk from high levels of air pollution. Pollution caused by traffic and industrial emissions aggravates asthma. Individuals with asthma or other respiratory diseases should check the Environmental Protection Agency's website or their local weather report each day for air quality reports. Days signified by the colors purple and maroon signify extremely high levels of outdoor air pollution and it is recommended that all individuals stay indoors, even those who are healthy. The colors orange and red are the days in which individuals with respiratory diseases, like asthma, emphysema, COPD and bronchitis, etc., should limit the amount of time they spend outdoors. Green and yellow days are those in which it is safe to be outdoors. According to the American Lung Association, you can help improve air quality by refraining from burning wood or trash and using less electricity. Automobile emissions include carbon monoxide and lung irritants such as nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter.

Secondhand smoke is another potent asthma trigger, and can actually worsen the severity of the disease. Young children are especially vulnerable to the chemicals found in secondhand smoke because their bodies are still developing. According to the Surgeon General, babies who are exposed to second-hand smoke after birth actually have weaker lungs than those who have never been exposed to smoke. Exposure to secondhand smoke can increase the number of respiratory and ear infections a child has and can cause a child with asthma to have more frequent and severe attacks. If children live in your home, it is highly recommended that you smoke outside, because secondhand smoke can permeate every room of a house.

Lung disease is the No. 3 killer in the United States, but many types of lung disease can be prevented. By now, we should all be well aware that smoking is one of the main causes of many lung diseases. Unfortunately, many people became addicted to cigarettes before realizing this. It definitely isn't an easy task, but thankfully there are many resources available to assist you in quitting smoking. There are a bevy of drugs treatments to help you quit, including nicotine replacement products and non-nicotine products like Bupropion (Zyban or Wellbutrin), an antidepressant, and Varenicline, otherwise known as Chantix. In these technologically advanced days you can even receive live smoking cessation advice through text messaging at the National Cancer Institutes (NCI) Web site at https://cissecure.nci.nih.gov/livehelp/welcome.asp . There are also several other organizations who offer toll free phone numbers that you can call if you need advice or support in quitting, such as the National Cancer Institute at 1-877-44U-QUIT, or for help in your state you can call 1-800-QUITNOW. Also available is the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345 and the American Lung Association at 1-800-LUNG-USA.

Andrea Greynolds is a registered respiratory therapist and the mother of a six-year-old and a five-year-old.

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