Enhance Your Health
Health Tip of the Week: UV Light
Studies are now confirming that UV light kills many types of viruses, germs and other bugs that can cause illness (including coronavirus).
A study published in the American Journal of Virus Control showed that 99.7% of SARS-COV-2 viral culture were killed with 30 seconds of UV light exposure. More studies are needed to confirm the type of UV light waves and dosage to best combat all types and the strongest of the viruses.
Hospitals and surgical centers have been using a strong version of UV light for years to sanitize surgical rooms. UV light to fight germs has been around for quite a while. Estimates have UV light used to fight germs since 1920 with good success.
Currently, New York Transit authority is using UV light to sanitize trains and subway cars. Amazon has even created a UV light robot on wheels to sanitize their facilities. The applications for using UV light for regular home use has become a popular subject. Different forms of UV light waves are dangerous to the human body and can cause many disorders such as cancer. The uses of UV light sited above are mainly for sanitizing rooms and surfaces where people are not exposed to the UV light, such as empty rooms.
That being said, there is a UV light wavelength that is not harmful to humans called Far-UVC light. It’s wavelength is much shorter than the ones harmful to human skin and eyes.
The safer version of UV light units are what is currently being marketed to attach to heating and air-conditioning systems. The air in your home, office, or school is circulated into the intake duct work of the HVAC system. As the air goes through the system, contact is made with UV light waves from an attached UV light unit. The cleaner, now, sanitized air is then circulated through the “out” vents into the rooms of your home, office, or school.
In a nut shell, if the theory and application is correct, the new circulated air is much cleaner and has less germs and bacteria (along with allergens). While more studies are needed, this seems like this could be the answer for cleaning germy air during the wintertime and summer air-conditioning months.
Many companies are jumping on the band wagon with this new idea. Articles have been written and I have learned that if the units are less than $300.00-$500.00 for your home systems, they probably are not as effective or reliable as more expensive units.
That being said, I took a chance on this new technology and purchased UV light units for my home and office HVAC systems. I was willing to spend the money even if there is only a remote chance that my home air can be safer for my family and my office air can be safer for my patients.
Pregnancy and Chiropractic News
In the odd news department, pregnancy may make your foot size grow. I’m sure this is good news for post pregnancy mothers who thought they were nuts when their shoes did not fit anymore. A study conducted at the University of Iowa found that arch height and rigidity decrease during pregnancy and increases in foot length occur that are permanent. I’m not sure of the chiropractic application in this area. Will adjusting the arches and bones of the feet prevent this? Is a foot massager beneficial? My early guess is yes and it definitely cannot hurt.
Children and Chiropractic News
According to the American Heart Association, close to 60% of children and teens do not have good cardiorespiratory fitness. Studies show that not only does poor cardio fitness negatively affect children’s heart and lung health, but poor cardio fitness also leads to academic achievement, mental health and other negative health outcomes.
Based on my observations of a percentage of children in my chiropractic practice, video games are not cutting it for cardiovascular fitness!! Time to get the kids to join the gym or participate in home exercise programs that stress aerobic activity. Or to start playing a sport!