March 20, 2018 — As spring allergy season approaches, you may hear companies make bold promises to improve your health by reducing allergens in your home. Such boasts may appeal especially to the nearly 25 million American adults and children with asthma and the approximately 50 million who have allergic rhinitis, or hay fever, because the symptoms of both can be triggered by dust mites, mold, and other allergens often found in air ducts and elsewhere in the home. Allergies, according to the CDC, are the 6th leading cause of chronic illness in the U.S.

But should you believe the hype? Will air duct cleaning help you breathe more easily?

“There’s never been a great study that shows objective evidence of disease improvement (as a result of air duct cleaning),” says allergist Anthony Montanaro, MD. “But to me, it’s always been a commonsense move. If you’re sensitive to what’s found in dust, it’s to your best advantage to minimize exposure to it.”

Montanaro, a professor of medicine and chief of the allergy and clinical immunology division at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, often talks with patients about their heating systems as he investigates the possible environmental triggers of their allergies.

“If they have forced air, that’s part of the conversation,” he says.

Source: https://wb.md/2u8wv7r