Clearing the Air: Essential Tips for Lung Health from Dr. Mark J Pamer
Apr 19, 2024Episode 9
Dr. Mark Pamer
Generally Speaking, What Can Everyone Do To Minimize Pulmonary Problems?
Ever wondered how to keep your lungs as pristine as a mountain breeze? Dr. Mark J. Pamer, a lung specialist with a heart as big as his medical knowledge, joins us to unveil the secrets to robust pulmonary health. In a world where smoke lingers around every corner, Dr. Pamer's unique insights are a breath of fresh air, painting a vivid picture of the destruction that smoke wreaks on our delicate lung tissues. He doesn't just stop at telling you to avoid smoke; he arms you with practical wisdom, from the power of handwashing to the underestimated protection masks offer against respiratory viruses.
But hold onto your inhalers, because we're just getting started. For those with existing conditions like asthma or COPD, Dr. Pamer's advice could be a game-changer, as avoiding the common cold or flu becomes as crucial as medication. He also champions vaccinations – both for the flu and pneumococcal pneumonia – as life-saving practices, especially for the most vulnerable among us. This episode isn't just a chat; it's a lifeline for anyone ready to defend their lungs against the invisible threats that lurk in plain sight. Join us and Dr. Pamer as we tackle the haze of respiratory health myths and emerge into the clear.
Generally Speaking, What Can Everyone Do To Minimize Pulmonary Problems?
Ever wondered how to keep your lungs as pristine as a mountain breeze? Dr. Mark J. Pamer, a lung specialist with a heart as big as his medical knowledge, joins us to unveil the secrets to robust pulmonary health. In a world where smoke lingers around every corner, Dr. Pamer's unique insights are a breath of fresh air, painting a vivid picture of the destruction that smoke wreaks on our delicate lung tissues. He doesn't just stop at telling you to avoid smoke; he arms you with practical wisdom, from the power of handwashing to the underestimated protection masks offer against respiratory viruses.
But hold onto your inhalers, because we're just getting started. For those with existing conditions like asthma or COPD, Dr. Pamer's advice could be a game-changer, as avoiding the common cold or flu becomes as crucial as medication. He also champions vaccinations – both for the flu and pneumococcal pneumonia – as life-saving practices, especially for the most vulnerable among us. This episode isn't just a chat; it's a lifeline for anyone ready to defend their lungs against the invisible threats that lurk in plain sight. Join us and Dr. Pamer as we tackle the haze of respiratory health myths and emerge into the clear.
Dr. Mark J. Pamer DO 573 NW Lake Whitney Place, Suite 105 Port Saint Lucie, FL 34986 (772) 785-5864
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the Dr Mark J Pamer podcast, a doctor who uses his heart to treat your lungs. Here's your host, Dr Mark J Pamer.
Speaker 2:
Looking for the secrets to healthier lungs. Don't miss exclusive interview with the leading lung doctor for Port St Lucie, where he shares some tips on minimizing lung problems. Welcome back everyone Garfield-Borne co-host, slash producer back in the studio with Dr Mark Pamer. Dr Pamer, how are you doing today? I'm awesome, let's do this. Tell me something Generally speaking, what can everyone do to minimize lung problems?
Speaker 3:
What? Okay, let me make sure this thing's on, this thing on Y'all listening Don't smoke, that's it. So yeah, you know not smoking has got to be the number one thing. The inhalation of smoke. So I mean smoking is basically. I mean, my God, if people didn't smoke, can you imagine the reduction in disease burden, not just of lung disease but of cardiovascular disease, stroke, heart attack, atherosclerotic disease, lung disease, cancer? I mean, just imagine, I mean not just the money saved, the lives saved. So not smoking would have to go right to the top of the list and I would even back that off, just to say even the inhalation of smoke, because you know we smoke in America but you know in much of the world we forget that a lot of the world is not in a first world situation. People have wood burning stoves in their house. The inhalation of smoke whether you're a firefighter, whether you're burning stuff, work in a barbecue truck, a food truck, but the inhalation of smoke sets off an inflammatory reaction in the lung and every one of those little smoke particles is going to be seen by the immune system as a foreign invader and it's going to get attacked. I mean, we see pretty smoke but the immune system doesn't see that the immune system sees a billion particles that it wants to destroy. And you know, let's face it, if the SWAT team showed up in your neighborhood and kicked down every door and raided every house, that neighborhood's not going to look the same afterwards, especially if it's going on every day after day after day. A pack is 20 cigarettes, it's 20 times a day. This is going on. The neighborhood's never the same Same with the lungs. Not inhaling smoke is a fantastic start to keeping your lungs healthy.
Speaker 3:
But what else? Trying to stay away from respiratory viruses, if at all possible, you know, stay away from sick people. People are coughing maybe. Stay away from them, especially if you've got lung disease. You know if you've got asthma, copd, fibrosis or something, and you know there's the grandkids are sick. Now's not the time to have them over those little viruses. The number one cause of flare-ups of asthma, copd I mean just kids can stay home.
Speaker 3:
Menus and restaurants, big, big source vector for viruses and bacteria of infecting people. The buggies at the grocery store, you know. Shaking hands, countertops, you know everywhere. So washing your hands, that's a big, actual thing you can do to not get lung disease. But washing your hands really using some common sense. Masks. Forget what you learned from the coven misinformation. They do work, you know. Masks help slow down the the passage of a virus and bacteria. Um, you know, but don't inhale smoke. Stay away from sick people if you can.
Speaker 3:
Vaccines are very, are very, very important. They do work. The influenza vaccine absolutely works. It's not 100%. You may still get influenza even if you get influenza vaccine. But the odds are it's not going to be as bad as if you weren't vaccinated and that nobody will argue with.
Speaker 3:
Pneumococcal vaccine is important against pneumococcal vaccine. It's important against pneumococcal pneumonia. That can be a lifesaver, especially for the elderly, the toddlers, the little kids. They're the reservoir for streptococcus pneumonia. You know the little kids they love to kill their grandparents. They don't mean to, but you know they can take out grandma or grandpa with pneumonia meningitis, you know, quite easily. So that's why we vaccinate the kids, not to kill off the adults. You know the grandparents we're vaccinating adults against, you know, strep pneumonia that's the most common cause of ear infections, sinus, bronchitis, pneumonia in the community big cause of meningitis. There's vaccines for that. There's a vaccine now for respiratory syncytial virus, rsv. Usually that hits babies but it can cause quite the cold and the bronchitis bronchiolitis in adults and if you've got asthma, copd, lung disease, it can be a disaster. It can be an ICU admission, it could be a fatal event, but it can definitely be a prolonged very miserable time. So there's an RSV vaccine very miserable time. So there's an RSV vaccine.
Speaker 3:
You know other things. I mean just staying away from smoke and sick people and staying up on your vaccines. It's really it. I really can't advocate for any of the natural products. You know I see the same stuff. There's really not great evidence for a lot of that. So I can't, as a Western scientist, tell you look, there's a thousand people that's been looked at versus a placebo group. That's shown that that's worked. So I kind of stay away from that. If it works for you, great. If it doesn't work, great, it may be treating your wallet, it might actually be helping you. But if you come to me, I'm going to give you evidence-based medicine. Most of that stuff doesn't really work. Some of the nutraceuticals, you know they. They certainly have some pharmacologic properties. Let's see what else. I mean that's, that's really kind of it.
Speaker 3:
Stay away from smoke, stay away from sick people, stay up on your vaccines, stay healthy. The healthier you are, the healthier your lungs are. I mean, you know, keep your immune system up so that when you're stay away from sick people stay up on your vaccines, stay healthy. The healthier you are, the healthier your lungs are. I mean, you know, keep your immune system up so that when you're presented with some respiratory pathogen which you will be just as I will be that we've got a good immune system to fight that thing off. You know, if you're really run down and God forbid, you know you have a date with tuberculosis or influenza or Mac or any other number of bacteria or viruses and you've got impaired immunity, that you're probably going to get infected and it may become an issue in you versus if you had a stronger immune system. It may not. So staying healthy is a big one as well.
Speaker 2:
So if you were to leave one, what's your top tip for having a healthy lungs? Don't smoke. Got it, love you, love it. Dr Pamer. You have a wonderful rest of the day. We'll see you in the next episode. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 1:
Thanks for listening to the Dr Mark J Pamer podcast. Thanks for listening to the Dr Mark J Pamer podcast. To learn more about the doctor who uses his heart to treat your lungs, go to markpamerdocom or call 772-785-5864. Once again, that's 772-785-5864.