Moisture in your residence is normal and usually not a cause for concern. It comes about when you cook, wash, bath, and even breathe. However, excess moisture isn’t something to be thrilled about. In fact, if your home contains excess moisture, you may belong to the more than one-quarter of Brits that currently hate their homes. Your home’s humidity may rise above normal levels for various reasons, especially during the wet seasons and when your home is poorly ventilated. This excess humidity can adversely affect your health in more ways than you would imagine. Here’s how high humidity affects your health.
Poor sleep quality
It is estimated that about 36% of UK adults struggle to sleep at least once weekly for various reasons. If your home’s humidity is pretty high, you are likely getting subpar shut-eye and suffering various health effects as a result. Humidity can impact your sleep because it increases your bedroom temperature, causing you to sweat excessively and feel uncomfortable lying in bed. Furthermore, high humidity increases wakefulness by reducing time spent in the two crucial deep sleep stages: rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. These sleep stages are vital to your overall health, so you may experience memory consolidation and bodily recovery problems if your sleep quality is poor.
Fungi, mould, and bacteria growth
Microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria, and mould can flourish rapidly indoors when humidity is high over a long period. Living in a highly humid home can be problematic if you constitute 12% of the UK’s population diagnosed with asthma. Humidity makes your home’s air stagnant, trapping pollutants like mould, pollen, and dust, which can worsen your asthma symptoms. Humid air also activates lung nerves that can narrow your airways, making breathing more difficult. Excessively humid indoor environments can also trigger allergies instead of relieving them. That’s why making your home as moisture-free as possible is essential. Luckily, you can install moisture-resistant Knauf plasterboard in your bathroom, kitchen, and other high humidity areas.
Dehydration
It seems counterintuitive to be dehydrated when there is too much moisture in the air. However, excess moisture can leave you dehydrated by interfering with your body’s natural cooling mechanisms. Indoor air temperature may feel hotter than it is if the air’s relative humidity is high. Therefore, even if your thermometer reads 31°C on a hot summer day, it will feel like 39°C if the relative humidity is 75%. Your body will operate on overdrive to keep your temperature around the standard 37°C when relative humidity is high.
Sweat is your body’s primary cooling mechanism reducing your core temperature and bringing immense relief when it evaporates off your skin. Your body produces sweat when relative humidity is high, but it doesn’t evaporate as quickly. Eventually, this immense salt, water, and mineral loss will leave you overheated and dehydrated, struggling to maintain normal bodily functions. When this happens, you may suffer symptoms like headaches, light-headedness, muscle cramps, and fatigue due to dehydration and heat exhaustion. Fortunately, using a dehumidifier in your home can lower the moisture levels and make you healthier.
Image Credits: geralt
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