Sneezing Season: University Hospitals Case Medical Center Doctor Offers Advice for Summer Allergy Sufferers

Posted on May 17, 2012 by

PRWeb – 1 hr 34 mins ago

Ways to seek relief: Antihistamines and decongestants may help. Steer clear of pollen and plants.

Cleveland, OH (PRWEB) May 15, 2012

Many people may enjoy nature in full bloom, but their noses may not so enamored. Leigh Kerns, MD, a pediatric allergy/immunology specialist at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, offers two tips for dealing with seasonal allergies this summer.

SEEK RELIEF. Antihistamines can quickly reduce sneezing, sniffling and itching. Decongestants clear mucus from your nasal passageways to relieve congestion and swelling, but have more side effects.

AVOID ALLERGENS. They’re gorgeous to behold, but try to steer clear of pollen, plants and other culprits that may trigger allergies

George Stamatis
University Hospitals Case Medical Center
216-844-3667
Email Information

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Clue to early diagnosis of pregnancy-related disease

Posted on May 17, 2012 by

Sydney, May 16 (IANS) Doctors will now be able to identify early on whether a mother will develop pre-eclampsia, the most common and severe pregnancy-related disease, a study says.

“It develops in mothers out of the blue, usually in the last three months of pregnancy, causing high blood pressure, kidney and liver damage and severe blood changes,” said Ralph Nanan, professor from the University of Sydney Medical School Nepean, Australia, who co-authored the study with David Eviston, Ann Quinton and colleagues, the Journal of Reproductive Immunology reports.

The findings suggest that pre-eclampsia cannot be diagnosed by symptoms before the disease occurs, which may have a lasting impact on a child’s immune system.

“Pre-eclampsia affects an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 women in Australia every year. Delivering the baby as soon as possible is the only way to stop it. In pre-eclampsia the mother’s immune system appears to attack the foetus,” added Nanan, according to a Sydney statement.

“Our study looked at the thymus of the foetus, a structure which sits behind the baby’s breastbone and is known as the ‘cradle’ of an important set of white blood cells called thymus-derived lymphocytes or T cells,” said Nanan.

“Surprisingly, we found the thymus of babies whose mother developed pre-eclampsia was significantly smaller than in babies of healthy pregnant women.”

What further surprised the researchers was that these changes were obvious in mid-pregnancy, long before the mother developed any signs of pre-eclampsia.

“This is a very interesting finding as the thymus plays a central role in shaping the child’s immune system and protecting it against the development of allergies, autoimmune disease and cancers later in life,” Nanan said.

The group is now conducting a prospective study with over 1,200 pregnant women to confirm the findings with the long-term prospect of developing a test for pre-eclampsia.

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Does Your Child Have Seasonal Allergies or a Cold?

Posted on May 14, 2012 by

HealthDay – 19 hrs ago

SATURDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) — It can be difficult during the spring months for parents to determine whether their children have a cold or seasonal allergies, but an expert outlines how to tell the difference.

“Runny, stuffy or itchy noses; sneezing; coughing; fatigue; and headaches can all be symptoms of both allergies and colds, but when parents pay close attention to minor details they will be able to tell the difference,” Dr. Michelle Lierl, a pediatric allergist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, said in a hospital news release.

“Children who have spring or fall allergies have much more itching of their noses; they often have fits of sneezing and usually rub their noses in an upward motion,” she explained. “They also complain about an itchy, scratchy throat or itchy eyes, whereas with a cold, they don’t.”

When people have allergies, their nasal discharge is usually clear and has the consistency of watery mucus, while those with colds typically have yellowish mucus discharge, Lierl said.

She recommended that children with seasonal allergy symptoms be tested for environmental allergens — such as pollen — that are present during seasons when they have symptoms, but not tested for food allergies or allergens present during seasons when children don’t have symptoms.

If your child has seasonal allergies, Lierl suggested many things you can do to control symptoms:

  • Keep windows closed during periods of high pollen and fungal spore levels, and change air conditioner filters every month.
  • Change children’s clothing when they come inside from outdoors. Wash clothing to rid them of all outdoor allergens.
  • After being outside, children should wash their face, hands and hair, and parents should use a nonprescription saline solution to rinse children’s eyes and nose.
  • Limit outdoor activity in the morning, when pollen counts are higher. When traveling, keep vehicle windows closed to keep pollen and other allergens out.
  • Make sure children take their allergy medicine daily during pollen season.

More information

The American Academy of Pediatrics has more about seasonal allergies in children.

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Kids With Food Allergies Foundation Launches iPhone App

Posted on May 12, 2012 by

PRWeb – 11 hrs ago

Nation’s Largest Online Support Community App Is Like Having An “Advocate or Coach In Your Pocket 24/7”

Doylestown, PA (PRWEB) May 10, 2012

Just in time for Food Allergy Awareness Week (FAAW), Kids With Food Allergies Foundation (KFA) announces an iPhone app for mobile access to its award-winning online community, http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org. The app is available now for download for free on iOS devices in the iTunes store and an Android version is expected by year’s end.

Kids With Food Allergies Foundation (KFA) is a national charity dedicated to keeping children safe and healthy by educating and supporting families utilizing its online forums, which promote peer-to-peer and critical day-to-day support. The organization’s web site also features educational materials that have been created or reviewed by its distinguished medical advisory team. While FAAW is May 13-19, for the 25,000 KFA members in the US and around the world, every single day is another chapter in the life of living and coping with the triumphs and challenges of this disease, which calls for strict management of avoidance of allergens.

KFA hopes to reach more families of the six million children who have been diagnosed with food allergies with its mobile application, especially families struggling economically who may have cut Internet access at home or can’t afford household computers. Surveys done over the past year, such as by the Pew Internet and American Life Project in 2011, or by Nielsen earlier this year, show smartphone use is growing among low-income populations.

“Many of our families have to juggle the cost of allergen-free food, medical nutritional formulas, rising cost of health insurance, prescriptions and doctor’s visits along with other household expenses,” said Lynda Mitchell, President of KFA. In addition, she said, many turn to KFA for help and advice with the logistical issues that coincide with living in the “real world” with severe, multiple food allergies such as dealing with relatives, enrolling their child into schools and camps. “The most important work we do is to help all families keep their children safe. We help them understand how to prevent an allergic reaction and what to do should a life threatening reaction occur. Having instant access to KFA when you are in a doctor’s waiting room or researching groceries at the supermarket is like having an online advocate and coach in your pocket or purse with you 24/7,” said Mitchell, herself the mother of a college student with food allergies.

About the Kids With Food Allergies Foundation (KFA)

Founded in 2005 as a charity, KFA is a growing national nonprofit organization of 25,000 individuals, families and businesses. Its rapid growth has been spurred by the unprecedented rise in food allergies, which affect about 1 in every 13 children. KFA’s program offerings are focused on educating families and communities about practical food allergy management to save children’s lives and improve their quality of life. Its interactive website provides a powerhouse of resources, including the nation’s largest online support community offering moral support, information sharing and food/cooking support; quality education materials edited by a multidisciplinary medical advisory team; and an online collection of 1,200 “allergy-friendly” recipes. KFA was recently selected as the About.com 2012 Readers’ Choice Award winner for best online food allergy support. To find out more, go to: http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org.

Allison Inserro

732-672-2334
Email Information

  1. App helps you find iPhone

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Kate Walsh supports adoption

Posted on May 10, 2012 by

Kate Walsh is a “huge advocate” of adoption.

The 44-year-old star has discussed her views on motherhood. Kate believes adopting a child is a wonderful option for women and hasn’t ruled out becoming a parent in the future.

“There are lots of different ways for women to be a mom in this culture. You never know what the world is going to bring,” she told Parade.com.

“I know a lot of women talk about [their feeling on becoming a mom] in interviews but I find it an intensely personal thing. So I don’t really love to talk about it but I do feel there are so many babies out there and I’m a huge advocate of adoption. So many of my friends have become mothers recently so I get to be this fabulous auntie and godmother to one of my good girlfriend’s baby.”

The actress stars on the small screen as Dr. Addison Montgomery in Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice. Kate says her abundance of pets aren’t ideal when it comes to looking glam for her TV appearances.

“After a long time of coming to work every day and entering the make-up trailer with watery eyes and runny nose, I figured I had allergies,” she laughed. “I’ve got four roommates and they all have fur and tails. So between all of those cats and dogs, it’s a festival of allergies. Plus the garden, it’s a nightmare.”

© Cover Media

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Amish farm kids remarkably immune to allergies: study

Posted on May 6, 2012 by

By Kerry Grens | Reuters – 23 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Amish children raised on rural farms in northern Indiana suffer from asthma and allergies less often even than Swiss farm kids, a group known to be relatively free from allergies, according to a new study.

“The rates are very, very low,” said Dr. Mark Holbreich, the study’s lead author. “So there’s something that we feel is even more protective in the Amish” than in European farming communities.

What it is about growing up on farms — and Amish farms in particular — that seems to prevent allergies remains unclear.

Researchers have long observed the so-called “farm effect” — the low allergy and asthma rates found among kids raised on farms — in central Europe, but less is known about the influence of growing up on North American farms.

Holbreich, an allergist in Indianapolis, has been treating Amish communities in Indiana for two decades, but he noticed that very few Amish actually had any allergies.

As studies on the farm effect in Europe began to emerge several years ago, Holbreich wondered if the same phenomenon might be found in the United States.

He teamed up with European colleagues to compare Swiss farming children and non-farming children to Amish kids in Indiana.

Amish families, who can trace their roots back to Switzerland, typically farm using methods from the 1800s and they don’t own cars or televisions.

The researchers surveyed 157 Amish families, about 3,000 Swiss farming families, and close to 11,000 Swiss families who did not live on a farm — all with children between the ages of six and 12.

They found that just five percent of Amish kids had been diagnosed with asthma, compared to 6.8 percent of Swiss farm kids and 11.2 percent of the other Swiss children.

Similarly, among 138 Amish kids given a skin-prick test to determine whether they were predisposed to having allergies, only 10 kids — or seven percent — had a positive response.

In comparison, 25 percent of the farm-raised Swiss kids and 44 percent of the other Swiss children had a positive test, the researchers report in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

The study did not determine why the kids who grew up on farms were less likely to develop asthma and allergies, but other research has pointed to exposure to microbes and contact with cows, in particular, to partially explain the farm effect (see Reuters Health story of May 2, 2012).

Drinking raw cow’s milk also seems to be involved, Holbreich said.

The going theory is this early exposure to the diverse potential allergens and pathogens on a farm trains the immune system to recognize them, but not overreact to the harmless ones.

As for why the Amish kids have even lower allergy and asthma rates than the other farming kids, “that piece of the puzzle we really haven’t explained,” Holbreich told Reuters Health.

He speculated that it could be at least partly a result of the Amish having larger families or spending even more time outside or in barns than people on more modern working farms.

Dr. Corinna Bowser, an allergist in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, said there’s also a possibility that inherited factors could play a role.

“The Amish are still of a limited genetic pool, I would assume, because they’re much more segregated than the Swiss kids are,” she told Reuters Health.

Holbreich said upcoming studies will further investigate the differences between the farming groups, with an eye toward designing possible interventions.

For instance, pregnant mothers or young children could be exposed to the mysterious factors that seem to protect farm kids as a preventive treatment, he explained.

“The goal is to try to find a way to prevent this allergy and asthma epidemic that western populations are facing,” Holbreich said.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/Kx5841 Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, online April 16, 2012.

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Kids on cow farms may have fewer allergies

Posted on May 4, 2012 by

By Kerry Grens | Reuters – 17 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Kids who grow up on farms and have contact with cows and cow milk are less likely to have allergies and asthma than kids raised nearby but not on a farm, according to a new study from Europe.

Researchers had previously noticed that kids raised on European farms have lower rates of asthma and allergies than other children (see Reuters Health story of June 1, 2010).

But the new findings help identify, at least in part, what specifically may protect some farm-raised youngsters against developing asthma or allergies.

“Nature can really teach us something here,” said Dr. James Gern, a childhood allergy researcher at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine in Madison, who wasn’t involved in this research.

“People have grown up with animals and in outdoor environments for eons, and maybe our immune systems are tuned to developing normally in that sort of environment,” he said.

Some earlier results suggested the large variety of bacteria and other microbes present on farms may play a role in staving off asthma, but not allergies. And researchers couldn’t pinpoint the particular bugs that seemed to be responsible.

To investigate what else might explain the so-called “farm effect,” the research team surveyed the parents of nearly 80,000 children who grew up in rural areas of Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

More than 9,600 of the kids were raised on a farm, 18,000 visited other people’s farms and 52,000 never spent time on a farm.

The farms in these regions are family-run and often have a range of plants and animals, rather than a single crop or animal species as is common in many large industrial farms in the United States, said Sabina Illi, the lead researcher on the study from Munich University’s Asthma and Allergy Research Group in Germany.

Her team found that 11 percent of the farm-raised kids had asthma, compared to about 16 percent of the kids who visited farms but weren’t raised on one.

Among the children who never spent time on a farm, 18 percent had asthma.

Similarly for hay fever, about five percent of farm kids had the seasonal allergy, compared to close to 11 percent of kids who visited farms and 15 percent of kids who didn’t spend time on a farm.

Wheezing and eczema were also less common in farm-raised kids, according to findings published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

To parse out what it is about farms that may be tied to asthma and allergy protection, Illi’s team asked a smaller group of parents more details about their kids’ farm exposure.

The researchers found that having contact with cows and straw and drinking milk that came from the farm was linked with a 21 to 26 percent reduced risk of developing asthma compared to non-exposed kids.

Kids who had contact with cows and drank their milk also had a lower chance of getting hay fever.

Illi said it’s possible the actual cows or straw might not be responsible for the reduced risk, but it could be that microbes in their vicinity, for example, have a protective effect.

This study and others suggest that “exposure to non-pathogenic microbes seems to be an important part of the education of the immune system,” Gern told Reuters Health.

He said the link between straw and asthma could mean that exposure to certain plants is also beneficial for kids.

Although contact with cows and their milk and straw accounted for much of the lower asthma risk, about half of the farm effect remained unexplained, Illi told Reuters Health.

It would be valuable to find out what exactly is responsible for the lower asthma and allergy rates to ultimately develop some sort of intervention for kids who don’t grow up on farms, according to Gern.

Still, Illi said there’s currently not enough evidence to say bringing pregnant women or young children to a farm — or exposing them to hay or raw milk — could reduce later allergy or asthma risks.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/JLQCG4 Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, online April 23, 2012.

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Why Are Pollen Allergies So Common?

Posted on May 2, 2012 by

By Natalie Wolchover | LiveScience.com – 21 hrs ago

You can’t get more natural than plants. Humans have been around them for our entire evolutionary history. So why are roughly 20 percent of Americans allergic to pollen, as if this plant sperm powder were some sort of toxic foreign substance?

The real question, according to Susan Waserman, professor of medicine in the division of clinical immunology and allergy at McMaster University in Canada, is not “Why pollen?” but “Why allergies at all?” Humans typically become allergic to things we’re frequently exposed to as children. Pollen is one of those things; in the spring, a cubic meter of air can contain thousands of pollen grains, so we’re inhaling them fairly constantly. But we’re also routinely exposed to food and pet hair as kids, and we commonly develop allergies to those, too.

So it’s not pollen, it’s just stuff. “If you’ve got that genetic tendency to become sensitized” — i.e. to develop allergic reactions to harmless substances — “the huge amount of pollen you breathe in and out can easily lead to sensitization,” Waserman told Life’s Little Mysteries.

If there’s nothing particularly heinous about pollen besides its prevalence, why do we develop allergies in the first place? The way it works is this: Allergies set in when your immune system misjudges a harmless protein, interpreting it as a threat. Once your system has gotten the wrong impression about a cat hair or pollen grain, there’s no changing its “mind” — you’re stuck with the allergy, often for the rest of your life.

The immune system will raise its defenses every time it detects the presence of the offending substance, or allergen. First, immune cells produce pitchforklike proteins called antibodies. Each antibody picks up an allergen molecule and carries it to white blood cells called mast cells, which trigger the release of chemicals like histamine. Those induce the allergic symptoms we all know and loathe: wheezing, sneezing, itching, swelling and rashes.

But why do immune systems make that fateful mistake in the first place?

There’s some evidence that allergies set in when you happen to be exposed to an allergen at the same time that you’re fighting off a virus, such as the common cold. “It’s entirely plausible that when the body is mounting a big immune response to a virus, that you’re going to trigger an allergic response to something you’re exposed to at the same time,” Waserman said. “But we don’t know definitely.”

Most studies of children getting “co-infected” by viruses and allergies have focused on pet hair allergies, she said, but the explanation may pertain to the onset of pollen and food allergies, too.

On the other hand, inadequate exposure to bacteria and viruses during early childhood also vastly increases the likelihood that you’ll develop allergies. Thanks to modern hygiene — antibacterial soap, clean water, pasteurized milk and more — kids aren’t exposed to nearly as many microbes as they used to be. As a result, their immune systems get fewer opportunities to learn how to discriminate between dangerous pathogens and harmless things like pollen. It’s called the “hygiene hypothesis,” but according to Waserman, it’s an accepted theory. “People whose immune systems are no longer busy fighting infection become disregulated and allergic,” she said.

Questions remain about why infectious disease exposure sometimes triggers but at other times stifles the onset of allergies, and what the perfect balance of filthiness and cleanliness might be during childhood. In the meantime, when the pollen count goes up on a lovely spring day, one-fifth of us are stuck indoors.

Follow Natalie Wolchover on Twitter @nattyover. Follow Life’s Little Mysteries on Twitter @llmysteries, then join us on Facebook.

Copyright 2012 Lifes Little Mysteries, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Some Schools Don't Let Kids Carry Asthma Inhalers

Posted on April 28, 2012 by

By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter | HealthDay – 1 hr 3 mins ago

FRIDAY, April 27 (HealthDay News) — Although all 50 states have laws that allow children with asthma to carry inhalers at school and 48 states have laws that let youngsters carry epinephrine pens for serious allergies, experts say that some kids are still being denied access to these lifesaving medications during the school day.

“Every school district handles this a little bit different, and for those who don’t allow children to carry their medications, I think may be due to a lack of knowledge. School officials may not appreciate the risk that having epinephrine pens and inhalers in a locked office, instead of with the child, can pose,” said Maureen George, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia.

“Fewer than 200 children die each year from asthma in the U.S. That number is low, but those deaths are preventable. And it’s a double tragedy when you lose a child to a preventable condition. And, some of those deaths happen in schools,” she said.

George said school officials may deny access to inhalers and epinephrine injectors because they’re concerned about potential liability from allowing a child to carry their own medication. What if the child uses the medicine incorrectly? What if the child uses the medication and doesn’t let an adult know? Or, what if a child allows another child to use their inhaler?

“I understand these concerns, but what’s the liability in allowing a child with asthma to exercise without having access to an inhaler when a nurse may or may not even be at the school?” she added.

George said that drug abuse prevention concerns are often chief among those listed as reasons why children shouldn’t carry their own medications. “But, do prescription medications really need to be grouped with illicit drugs?” George asked.

The bottom line, however, is that children and their parents now have the law on their side. Federal and state legislation allows children to carry their own inhalers. Not surprisingly though, there is paperwork that’s required for youngsters to be able to do so.

Talk with your child’s school nurse and get the required paperwork from him or her, ideally before school starts, advised Nancy Sander, president of the Allergy and Asthma Network/Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA).

“Meet with the child’s doctor before school, or as soon as you get an asthma diagnosis if it’s in the middle of a school year. Parents often aren’t aware that they need to fill out the paperwork,” said Sander.

George said that kids who can demonstrate that they know how to use an inhaler can usually be allowed to carry their own medication, regardless of their age. Children must also be responsible enough to tell an adult when they’ve used their medication. They must also understand that they can’t share their medication with other children.

Sander said the AANMA is getting fewer and fewer calls every year about kids being denied the right to carry their own medication, but said it does still happen sometimes.

If your child is having an issue with carrying an asthma inhaler or an epinephrine pen, George said the first person you should contact is the school nurse. She said that a school nurse will often be willing to advocate for a child, and that’s generally very helpful when you make your case to the school principal.

George said it’s important to remember that “school principals make these rules with what they believe is the best interest of the children. They’re not doing it to be punitive. So, you need to explain why this rule is not beneficial for your child. When presented with facts, they can make a case-by-case decision about your child being an exception. You can help break down the barrier,” she said.

If children aren’t mature enough to carry their own inhaler, Sander said it’s important that the child’s inhaler follows the child throughout the school day, from the classroom to gym to the playground and to after-school activities. That way, the medication can be administered without delay as soon as a child starts having symptoms.

More information

Learn more about your child’s right to carry an asthma inhaler or injectable epinephrine at school, including a clickable list of each state’s law from the Allergy and Asthma Network/Mothers of Asthmatics website.

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How Your Air Filters Could Be Making Your Allergies Worse

Posted on April 21, 2012 by

PRWeb – Tue, Apr 17, 2012

Choosing the best air filter for your home from FiltersFast.com protects your family from pollen and pet dander that can trigger intense symptoms for allergy sufferers.

Charlotte, NC (PRWEB) April 17, 2012

If you are purchasing your air filters from your local home improvement store, you could be making your allergies worse! Experts contend that we are experiencing one of the most dangerous allergy seasons in decades for those who suffer from allergies and asthma. Choosing the best air filter for your home protects your family from pollen and pet dander that can trigger intense symptoms for allergy sufferers. The fiberglass air filters sold in home improvement stores are usually rated at a less than 7 MERV rating. MERV is a rating used in the air filtration industry to measure the ability of an air filter to reduce small particles like dust, pollen and dander in the air. MERV is an acronym that stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value. The higher the rating, the smaller the particles the filter removes from your indoor air.

“Many people suffer from allergies and do not realize that they can take control of their indoor air quality by using a high efficiency air filter. MERV 13 air filters are the highest recommended air filtration level for most residential applications. It is especially important that allergy sufferers have at least a MERV 8 filter. In fact, at FiltersFast.com, we don’t even sell filters with less than a MERV 8 rating!” says Cartier King, Filtersfast.com Air Filtration Specialist certified by the National Air Filtration Association.

According to experts at Filtersfast.com, the industry leader on air filtration issues, there are different levels of measurement for an air filter’s ability to remove particles of various sizes.

1. MERV 1 to 7 Filters. These filters provide minimal filtration. They are typically disposable fiberglass or synthetic panel filters within a cardboard frame and have to be replaced quite frequently.

2. MERV 8 Filters. This range of air filters will reduce pollen, pet dander, dust and other contaminants, as small as 3.0 microns. These air filters are good for capturing dust and mold spores.

3. MERV 11 Filters. Constructed with deep pleated, boxed media or bag filters, these are some of the most efficient air filters used in homes and commercial buildings. They increase efficiency and reduce allergens.

4. MERV 13 to 16 Air Filters. With the ability to trap up to 98% of airborne contaminants such as bacteria, tobacco smoke, cooking oil and droplet nuclei, these air furnace filters will capture allergens as small as 0.3 microns that trigger allergic reactions.

For the best performance of your furnace unit, air filters should be changed every 3 to 6 months depending on indoor air quality and usage.Get more advice for choosing the best air filter for your home during this allergy season at http://www.filtersfast.com.

Kym Moore
kym@filtersfast.com
866-438-3458
Email Information

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