Worried about the next wildfire smoke event and what to do for your breathing? Aliaksandr Ramaniuk, DO, Physician in Cardiac Intensive Care, Pulmonology, and Pulmonary Rehabilitation at Summa Health - Radio, walks listeners through what wildfire smoke means for lung health: how PM2.5 particles (tiny enough to bypass nasal mucus and cilia) cause immediate symptoms (coughing, wheeze, chest tightness, eye irritation) and can produce delayed problems days to weeks later. He identifies high-risk groups—people with asthma, COPD, heart disease, diabetes, young children, older adults, and pregnant people—and explains practical protections: check the Air Quality Index (apps like AirNow), limit outdoor exertion when AQI is high, use properly fitted N95 masks when you must go out, keep a supply of masks and rescue inhalers, set home HVAC to recirculate and consider HEPA or MERV-13 filtration, and avoid adding indoor pollutants (candles, gas stove use). Dr. Ramaniuk also notes that repeated smoke exposures can accelerate lung-function decline for some people and recommends talking with your clinician ahead of events to create an action plan and review inhaler or steroid strategies.
Wildfire Smoke and Your Lungs: Symptoms, Masks, and Home Protection
Featured Speaker:
Aliaksandr Ramaniuk, DO
A specialist in pulmonary and critical care medicine, Alex Ramaniuk, M.D. has special interests in advanced asthma and COPD, eosinophilic lung diseases, pulmonary infections, diagnostic bronchoscopy, fibrotic and cavitary lung disease, bronchiectasis, pulmonary hypertension, lung cancer, critical care medicine, and post-ICU recovery. Dr. Ramaniuk is a graduate of Ohio University College of Medicine in Athens, OH. He completed an internal medicine residency at Ohio Health Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, OH, and a pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. Dr. Ramaniuk is fluent in English, Belarusian Russian, Ukrainian and Russian.