We sleep, on average, about 7 hours a night, which means that we spend way more time in our bedroom than we do in any other room of the apartment. And, naturally, we spend more time in our bed than on any other piece of furniture. It follows then that the bedroom can affect our health more than any other room. So, when we started waking up every morning with a stuffy nose and a sinus headache, we knew something was wrong. After the jump: How we tackled the problem, and some general ideas on how to make your bedroom a healthy place... 1. Start with the basics: take a peek under the bed. Is it clean down there? It's easy to forget about sweeping, vacuuming, etc. under the bed. But you've got to do it. Pull out all the storage bins, clean them, and clean the floor under your bed regularly. 2. Consider your sheets: a) are they organic cotton, and b) are they clean? If they aren't organic, consider buying organic fabric the next time you need to purchase new sheets. (Target carries fantastic, affordable organic cotton sheets).

Now, ask yourself: How often do you put fresh sheets on your bed? You should be doing it once a week. We know we weren't, but we've started and it's helping! 3. Rethink your pillows: Think about it: If you sleep on your stomach (like we do) you are literally breathing your pillow for 7 hours a night. So, obviously, it's a good idea to wash it! Then consider what your pillow is stuffed with. A lot of us are allergic to down, so consider a natural, hypoallergenic filling, like wool. Or, invest in some hypoallergenic pillow covers: they'll keep the bad stuff (dust mite feces and other grossness) in your pillow and out of your nose. But remember, they need to be washed regularly too! A more expensive, but possible, solution is a natural foam pillow. We like Keetsa's Down Alternative Memory Foam Pillow ($69.99). 4. The heart of the matter: your mattress: A natural mattress is always the best way to go. But a lot of us already own an expensive mattress and don't intend to swap it out anytime soon.

If you fall into that category, treat your mattress just like your pillows and invest in a hypoallergenic cover. This CleanRest Mattress Cover gets great reviews at Brookstone. 5. Keep pets out: Lastly, something we continually fail to do: Keeping pets out of the bed can be a critical step, especially if you struggle with allergies.gas heating units for sale Do you already do all of this? ac units not in windowWhat else do you do to keep your bedroom healthy?used central ac unit for sale Top image via AT:LAIs My Air Conditioner Making me Sick? < Back to Blog John Consalvi and Jeanette Hallak both told NBC 10's Consumer Alert Team that their cars' heating and cooling systems are making them sick. "We went to turn on the [air conditioning] one day, and it had a horrible smell – I call it a toxic smell," Hallak said.

"You immediately have to shut it off. I do have allergies [and] this probably made it worse." "I get a little dizzy whenever I smell the odor from the [air conditioning] unit. I'm allergic to mold and mildew, so I have to roll down the windows so I can feel better," Consalvi said. Experts call it "toxic car syndrome." "A lot of new vehicles have mold in the air conditioning system," said Clarence Ditlow, with the Center for Auto Safety in Washington. Ditlow said that mold in ventilation systems is a common problem. "It results in water accumulating in it, promoting the growth of the mold, and whenever you turn on the air conditioner, the first thing you do is get hit with a blast of moldy air," Ditlow said. The challenge for car owners is how to fix the problem. Some car manufacturers have put out advisories on the problem and have told mechanics how to fix the problem. Many times it involves a disinfectant sprayed into the ventilation system. The fix can cost you a few hundred dollars, and it doesn't guarantee the moldy smell is gone for good.

"They sprayed it and installed the part, per the bulletin, and the odor was still there. I brought it back three times," Consalvi said. "What will happen, is that when you dump the chemicals into the (air conditioning) system, you will kill off the bacteria and the mold for awhile, but it will come back again," Ditlow said. Ditlow said that if a car has the problem, you are stuck with it for the life of the car. Attorney Jacqueline Herritt has advice for consumers: "If they turn it on and they smell any odd smell, they should definitely take it back into the dealership. Don't settle for any excuses from the dealership – make sure something is done or it could affect your health," Herritt said. The Consumer Alert bottom line is, if you have a smell, you should complain to the manufacturer in writing and use the Lemon Law in your state to try to get the manufacturer to buy your car back. Both Consalvi and Jeanette Hallak filed lawsuits against the manufacturer.

They both have General Motors cars. General Motors has since bought back Consalvi's car. He got a new truck from the company. Hallak settled with the company. Return to Lemon Law News.Cold weather really can make you sick Posted December 5th, 2008 in Biology. Tags: Introductory-Science, No Equations, Quickie. My mother always tells me to bundle up before I go outside during the winter, because otherwise I’ll “catch a cold.” When I first learned about the germ theory of disease, I thought she was wrong. Cold doesn’t make you sick, I thought. Germs make you sick. Recently, it’s become obvious that I was wrong and she was right. Germs are responsible for disease, but it’s crucial to remember that germs are everywhere. Our immune systems are constantly fighting these microscopic invaders. In fact, we’re probably infected with the common cold to some extent even when we don’t show any symptoms. During the flu season of 2005, an experiment was performed to test the idea that being cold can make you sick.

90 people kept their feet in a bowl of ice water for 20 minutes, while a control group of 90 people put their feet in an empty bowl for 20 minutes. Over the next 5 days, 29% of the group with chilled feet developed cold symptoms, compared to only 9% of the control group. Professor Eccles explained this effect by saying that our bodies restrict blood flow to the extremities when we get cold to help conserve body heat for the torso and brain, which really need to be warm. Cutting off the blood flow reduces the supply of white blood cells which are the immune system’s primary weapon against germs. While his explanation makes sense, there may be a more general effect at work. The human body is a machine that accepts fuel in the form of food, and uses that fuel’s energy to keep us warm and to power our immune systems, muscles and brains. However, in frigid conditions our bodies have probably evolved to say “who cares if I might get sick tomorrow when I might die of hypothermia in an hour?”