For pulmonary sarcoidosis, COPD and cardiac patients, bad air quality days are torture. Bad air quality days are determined by the amount of ground ozone and fine particles in the air on a given day. I get an email the day before from Clean Air NY, if the air quality will be bad. I feel the difference on those days, as my breathing becomes more difficult and my heart rate goes up.

A new study conducted by a team from Long Island Jewish Medical Center and The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research has come out about those pollution particles that they may actually increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

The study found that in days that for a 10ug/m3 rise in small particle air pollution, there was a four-to-10 percent increase in the number of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests. The current EPA standard is 35ug/m3.

That’s a big rise in sudden cardiac arrests for the “small” rise in particles in the air. Although any rise is not a good thing on the whole. If you do suffer from some form of COPD, remember, it’s not only your lungs that are working harder on bad air quality days, but your heart is also under a lot of strain also. So take it easy on those days and try to stay inside and limit any physical activity.