Local pulmonologist discusses recent air quality issues impacting the valley
The Coachella Valley is under an air quality alert until 6 a.m. Friday. With so much dust in the air, what do people in the valley need to know?
According to Dr. Naveen Jayakumar, a pulmonologist at Eisenhower Health, people with asthma or who have breathing issues should be the most concerned.
Those people need to contact their doctor about getting an inhaler or taking certain medication, but for most healthy people, the dust is not a major issue, although long-term exposure could cause problems.
"Repeated exposure to dust and flare up of allergies can present asthma. Some patients develop adult on-set asthma. We see that most commonly with people from LA area or northern California area. Right after they come to the desert they get exposed to all this dust," Jayakumar said.
Jayakumar also said, "Protect yourself. Use common sense, standard precautions. Wear a face mask if you're concerned."
