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Too much time in air-conditioning can cause health issues
Here are the types of diseases that can strike those who stay in air-conditioned rooms for too long.
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The body is prone to flu if one remains in an air-conditioned room for too long. (Shutterstock/File)
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taying indoors in Jakarta’s hot and humid weather calls for the use of air conditioners (AC). However, little do people know that there are dangers in air-conditioned spaces, as AC can actually trigger a range of illnesses.
As reported by tempo.co, here are the types of diseases that can strike those who stay in rooms with AC for too long.
Lung disease
One of the potentially lethal health issues that rooms with AC can cause is lung disease. The appliances can abruptly shift the temperature and humidity of a room, and these sudden changes can disrupt one’s breathing and damage the body’s respiratory system.
Skin issues
Staying in an air-conditioned room for too long can lead to skin problems and cause the skin to feel dry. This can eventually harm the skin’s natural moisture and mucous membranes.
(Read also: Aromas, music help reduce stress in workplaces)
Allergies
The circulation of polluted air and dust in a confined, air-conditioned room can induce allergic rhinitis or allergy-triggered asthma attacks, according to the Health Vigil.
A study published in the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine detected a “concentration of dust mites allergen” in the air, before and even after the activation of air conditioners, in several places in Wuhu City, Anhui, China. It further revealed that air-conditioning filters can “enrich dust mites [and] major allergens", which can trigger asthma attacks.
Flu
The body is prone to flu if one remains in an air-conditioned room for too long. The virus carried by people afflicted with the flu can become confined when there is no outside air circulation in rooms with AC.
(Read also: Simple homemade flu and cough remedies)
Dry eyes
Eye-related illnesses such as blepharitis and conjunctivitis (pink eye) can arise when people are in rooms with AC too often. This can also jeopardize the optical health of contact lens users.
Intolerant to hot weather
If the human body is accustomed to the comfort of being in an air-conditioned room, it will become increasingly less tolerant toward the hot natural temperature of the outdoors, causing a person to sweat too easily.
As a solution, it is best to control or limit the amount of exposure to air conditioning and to increase outdoor activities in order for the body to benefit from fresh, natural air. (mra/kes)
