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| View Larger Image | My House Is Killing Me!: The Home Guide for Families with Allergies and Asthma
by Jeffrey C. May
by Jonathan M. Samet
| | List Price: | $18.95 | | Price: | $12.89 | | You Save: | $6.06 (32%) |  | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours | | | | | Sales Rank: | 67429 | | Studio: | The Johns Hopkins University Press | | | Binding: | Paperback | | Number Of Pages: | 352 | | Publication Date: | October 08, 2001 | | Publisher: | The Johns Hopkins University Press |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
It's a world we barely see, but it is teeming with life. In the dust of a typical house, carpet beetles, mites, silverfish, and other creatures live and die, producing new generations every few months. Mold, bacteria, and yeast lurk undetected in heating and cooling systems. Debris dispersed into the air from these organisms can cause runny noses, itchy eyes, coughing, headaches, and breathing difficulties. Some people, especially those made highly sensitive by allergies, suffer from devastating health problems and the worry that, as one such sufferer lamented, "My house is killing me!" Scrutinizing house dust and air samples with a microscope, indoor air quality expert Jeffrey C. May has spent his career helping people identify what's causing their chronic health problems. In My House Is Killing Me! he draws on the dramatic personal stories of his clients' suffering and relief to help readers understand the links between environmental factors and problems like allergies and asthma. Explaining how air conditioning, finished basements, and other home features affect air quality, he offers a step-by-step approach to identifying, controlling, and often eliminating the sources of indoor pollutants and allergens. If we could see this contamination, May observes, the air would look as murky as stagnant water, and we would know not to breathe it. Reading My House Is Killing Me! lets you see your house the way an expert would. Just as he looks at spaces and systems during an indoor air quality investigation, May focuses first on the areas of daily life (bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen), then looks into attics and basements (including heating and air conditioning), and finally moves outside to the garage and the exterior of a home. Along with offering a wealth of practical advice and proven solutions for various problems, he includes a glossary of terms and a list of valuable resources. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 15 reviews)
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A must read if you have allergies 
This book has certainly opened our eyes as to what allergens can exist that one would never dream were in their home. It is so totally awesome and explicit with explainations. It's a must read for anybody who has known allergies or even suspects possible allergies. It will surprise you what can be causing your health issues. The culprit may be allergens in your home, in your yard, in your vehicle.
February 20, 2008 | |
Good book, but not for responsible pet owners 
I got this book for our mildew issues. Our house doesn't breath very well. So far the advice has been good (we breath much better now for it), except I find the chapter on pets very disappointing and limited. The only advice the author really offers on dealing with pet allergies is to get rid of the pets. She is obviously not an animal person as she appears to describe pets as dirty (her most experience is talking about her mothers' ill-trained dogs). A lot of my friends who have allergies and pets would toss this book in the trash because of this as they've learned to live with their pets and fantastically manage their allergies at the same time. There's a lot of things you can do to keep pets even when you have allergies (switch pet foods, litters, shampoos, drink apple vinegar cider, vacuum more regularly, groom regularly, etc).
January 24, 2008 | |
Worked for my family
My daughters have a range of chronic respiratory issues to simple allergies. This book helped me realize what I can do for them and it has made a difference. The main point is to find the source of the allergen before purchasing solutions. We thought our air purifier and humidifier were great machines to help with cleansing and adding moisture to the indoor air. Boy, were we wrong. We may have actually been spewing out mold particles and distributing dust mite fecal material into the air. The first part of the book was hard to read because it shows the common causes of allergies - dust mites and other little creatures that may be in your pillow at this moment. The book made suggestions from simple to the complex. Some of our changes were simple like using a wet mop on our floors, adding dust-mite-proof pillow cases, and running stuffed animals through the dryer. Fortunately, we didn't have to go to the extreme to get some relief and my daughters are coughing and sneezing much, much less. This book gives you some tools to help you become an indoor air detective in your home or at least, where to begin to get help.
January 09, 2007 | |
Wonderful resource for some allergies -- but not others 
"My House Is Killing Me!" is a wonderful book with lots of great information for people who are allergic to mold, mildew, and dust mites.
Contrary to the broadly worded title, this book contains relatively little information for people who are allergic to tree pollen, grass pollen, weed pollen, pet dander, and chemicals (i.e., chemical sensitivity). Unfortunately, I'm allergic to everthing on the second list and nothing on the first list. So, most of this book wasn't very helpful for me.
However, if dust mites, mold, or mildew trigger your allergies, you will find this book quite helpful. Each chapter addresses one room and ends with a list summarizing what you can do to improve that room. The book contains numerous stories about houses triggered allergies of these sorts, why, and what can be done about it -- the presentation of these stories was too mellodramatic for my tastes, but the advice appears to be sound and well considered.
November 10, 2005 | |
excellent book
Jeffrey May is a clear, concise communicator. He offers specific, helpful information. Easy to read and useful.
September 24, 2005 | |
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