This is what air pollution does to the immune system

Of late – air pollution has become a common topic of discussion among parents. Parents are well read nowadays and are aware that air pollution is the cause of a number of diseases. Parents therefore have begun to go to great lengths to protect their children from air pollution. And I know several parents who are doing all they can to keep their children far from even a whiff of air pollution.

But is this protection from air pollution achieving its desired objective? Are these children falling sick less often? The answer unfortunately is – no.

Children protected from air pollution still fall sick. And it leaves parents asking the question – “Why does my child still fall sick even when I am protecting him from air pollution?”

And the answer is this.

Yes air pollution is really bad for health and children must be protected from air pollution. But before we can protect our children from air pollution – we must understand what air pollution really is.

The job of the immune system is to protect the body from the attack of harmful germs. To protect the body against germs, the immune system needs to work in a clean non polluted environment . When the immune system is working in a clean, non polluted environment – it can identify germs and act only against them.

But with pollution all around – the immune system often has to work in a polluted environment. And when it does, it gets confused because of all the pollutants in the surrounding air. In the polluted environment the immune system begins to think that non-infectious things like dust or pollen or vehicle fumes are also germs and begins to work against them as well.

With pollutants everywhere the immune system goes into overdrive as it constantly tries to keep the lungs safe. This results in conditions like allergies and asthma.

Parents want to protect their children from air pollution and what they do to do this is lock their children up in AC environments of cars or rooms. But what is important to realize is that AC environments are polluted too. It is just that it is a different kind of air pollution.

Breathing fresh air in natural surroundings is the only way to keep the immune system healthy and functioning well.

Take your kids to the park. Let their immune systems breathe. That is the only way to protect them from the hazards of air pollution.