As the doctors and staff of the Florida Lung, Asthma and Sleep Center prepare for July 4th celebrations with our families and friends, we wish you a happy, safe Independence Day Celebration! Have fun, but remember this holiday presents dangers that can put you in the Emergency Room. If we can save even one of our blog readers from a senseless accident, this blog will have been well-spent. Below, you will find our top tips for Fourth of July freedom from harm:
1. …About that barbeque: Experts recommend you clear a three foot area around the grill. Counters, tree branches and paper plates cause fires that can ruin a picnic! Judy Comoletti, director of public education at the National Fire Protection Association names stacks of paper plates as the number one cause of barbecue fires in the United States.
2. …About those fireworks: Every July 4, there are approximately 8,800 people who wish they had not played with matches to light backyard fireworks displays. These are the people rushed to the hospital for burns and eye injuries. The worst offenders? Roman Candles, M-80’s and those seemingly harmless sparklers. The Florida Lung Doctors hopes your will attend a nice, safe, professional pyrotechnics show in your community.
3. …About those sand castles: A University of North Carolina Study recently reported that if you dig in the sand, you have a 13% higher chance of contracting stomach flu on your holiday, as opposed to those who only walk, sun and swim. Bacteria that swarm in the sand can travel from your hand to your mouth. So, if you must build those castles or write “Love Letters In The Sand,” we remind you to pack hand sanitizer. Please use it before you eat or touch your face. For more tips on safety during this great American holiday, please click here.
4. …About that bzzzzzz: Attention! If you are having outdoor food at a picnic or cook-out, The Florida Lung, Allergy and Sleep Center Specialists warn you not to invite bees and wasps! It is simple: Keep covers on your food, especially sweets. If you know someone in your group is allergic to stings, remind them to have their medication or epi-pen with them.
Have You Marked Your Calendar?
In 2012, all your July excitement is not over when July 4th is over, remember we have invited you to our World Spirometry Day Event! The Florida Lung Doctors are proud to participate in this world-wide event on Friday, July 6th, here in Orlando at Celebration Health. The doctors and staff of Florida Lung, Asthma and Sleep Specialists will be available to answer your lung health questions from 10:30 to 12:30.
Click for more information from our invitation in the last blog. We will be giving attendees a free, fast, and painless spirometry test. We hope you will come visit with us and take advantage of this valuable lung function evaluation oportunity. The breath you save may be your own!
Some Heavy Reading
We believe our deep readers and medical professionals will appreciate reading about some interesting methodology used by researchers for clinical studies with medications for COPD treatments. The reader will see that it is sometimes impossible to perform standard, double-blind trials, particularly for drugs used in inhalers. Find out how the researchers used open-label studies. “Methods used to minimise any potential bias introduced by open-label study design include randomisation, crossover study design, and objective measurements of primary efficacy and safety variables.” To discover the details, click here.
Once again, we thank you for reading our blog, and we hope you will “like” us on Facebook. Enjoy this Star-Spangled holiday. Happy Birthday, America!
