{"id":24441,"date":"2019-07-29T05:28:41","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T05:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shanghailiving.com\/?p=24441"},"modified":"2019-07-29T05:28:41","modified_gmt":"2019-07-29T05:28:41","slug":"how-to-prevent-air-conditioning-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shanghailiving.com\/how-to-prevent-air-conditioning-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Prevent Air Conditioning Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Kongtiaobing<\/em>, literally air conditioning disease, is very real, though far from dangerous. Your ayi has probably squawked at you about it. It\u2019s the reason all your Chinese colleagues have humidifiers on their desks. When you wake up every morning with a dry, sore throat, it\u2019s not what you did last night that\u2019s to blame but your air conditioner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those who are lucky enough to have central air conditioning are spared this unpleasant condition, but we plebes with wall-mounted or standing units will suffer all summer. Air conditioners cause dry, scratchy throats because although the air you feel is nice and cool, it\u2019s also very dry. \u201cBreathing in this air dries out the lining of your nose and throat,\u201d says Dr. Jeanette Burkschat, an ENT specialist at&nbsp;Shanghai United Family Hospital, which is why your throat is dry and itchy.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Power of Humidifiers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019re not going to turn off the A \/ C when it\u2019s 40 degrees out, but you can combat kongtiaobing by humidifying the room. \u201cUse a humidifier or place a bowl of water in the room; a hygrometer can help you measure humidity to find the right comfort level,\u201d says Dr. Burkschat. Humidifiers can be purchased at Carrefour and on Taobao; a mid-range Chinese model from Taobao will run you RMB120. Hygrometers start from just RMB3 on Taobao.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Else Can You Do?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To soothe your throat, Dr. Burkschat suggests drinking plenty of warm water or tea; you can sweeten it with honey or forego the tea and just eat a tablespoon of honey, although remember to hydrate anyway. Try gargling with sage tea or salt water\u2014one teaspoon salt per eight ounces of warm water\u2014or inhale the steam from boiling salt water or sage tea. You can also gargle with a mild oil like sesame or olive oil. Suck on throat lozenges, which can be purchased cheaply at all convenience stores, and listen to your mother and finally quit smoking. If you\u2019ve got space in your apartment, move your bed away from the aircon; kongtiaobing is at its worst when you sleep directly under the unit.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is it Dangerous?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Suffering from this condition does not necessarily mean you\u2019re on your way to getting sick, but Dr. Burkschat says, \u201cIf you have a sore or dry throat, your mucus membrane loses functions like protecting and cleaning the throat.\u201d This does make it easier to catch a cold, which is possible during the summer months. Cover your mouth when you cough and sneeze, wash your hands and keep your fingers away from your eyes and mouth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kongtiaobing, literally air conditioning disease, is very real, though far from dangerous. Your ayi has probably squawked at you about it. It\u2019s the reason all your Chinese colleagues have humidifiers on their desks. When you wake up every morning with a dry, sore throat, it\u2019s not what you did last night that\u2019s to blame but &#8230; <a title=\"How to Prevent Air Conditioning Disease\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/shanghailiving.com\/how-to-prevent-air-conditioning-disease\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about How to Prevent Air Conditioning Disease\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Prevent Air Conditioning Disease - Shanghai Living<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/shanghailiving.com\/how-to-prevent-air-conditioning-disease\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Prevent Air Conditioning Disease - Shanghai Living\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kongtiaobing, literally air conditioning disease, is very real, though far from dangerous. Your ayi has probably squawked at you about it. It\u2019s the reason all your Chinese colleagues have humidifiers on their desks. When you wake up every morning with a dry, sore throat, it\u2019s not what you did last night that\u2019s to blame but ... 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