Intermountain Medical Center researchers to study impact of inversion


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

MURRAY — The thick air this time of year along the Wasatch Front often looks, smells and tastes bad.

It also wreaks havoc on the health of those with breathing issues, like asthma patient Fara Lavasani.

"When the inversion is bad, I basically lock myself inside because it's so much harder on my breathing. I can't breathe," Lavasani said. "I become short of breath."

Lavasani sees her pulmonologist every three months during the winter inversions.

"It feels like suffocating," she said. "I sometimes feel like someone is sitting on my chest and I can't expand my lungs."

She also finds herself using her inhaler more often.

"We have patients who have lung disease who come in because of the bad air quality," said Lavasani's doctor, Intermountain Medical Center pulmonologist Denitza Blagev. "They were doing OK and then the inversion set in and inflamed their lung disease."

Blagev advises her patients to stay indoors, but she also wondered if they could do something more. That is why she is helping Intermountain Medical Center launch a two-year winter inversion randomized controlled clinical trial to determine whether use of a high-efficiency personal (HEPA) filter reduces respiratory symptoms in at-risk patients.

"There are some studies in asthma patients who have shown that having an in-home air filter is helpful," Blagev said. "But we're not really sure about people who have COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) or at risk for COPD whether that would really be enough clearing of the particulates to make a difference in their symptoms."

Researchers are looking to enroll people who are former smokers and have worsening breathing symptoms during poor air quality days. For 12 weeks, researchers will watch participants' activity, medication use, hospitalizations and other health issues possibly related to the inversion.

In addition, they will place personal indoor and outdoor air quality monitors to measure the particulates inside and outside the home. It's those fine particulates that cause the most problems, Blagev said.

"We breathe in tiny particles that get into the blood, and so it sets off inflammation and clotting. It can have effects all over the body, including heart attacks and strokes."

If interested in enrolling, contact the research team at filter@imail.org or call 801-507-4606.

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahYour Life - Your Health
Erin Goff

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast