East Anglia

My husband and I have lived on the Isle of Wight for 33 years. We are both asthmatic and moved here for health reasons, apart from it being a wonderful island. We are now considering moving to the mainland, possibly Norfolk or Suffolk. I would appreciate any advice regarding these counties, and Asthma? Our triggers are mould spores, damp, cold, and stress.

[twinkly29]

Unfortunately because triggers and responses to them are so personal, no-one else's experiences will really be helpful. Maybe try out different areas as a holiday to see how you personally react being in those areas?

[Poobah]

I tried finding some stats on asthma per county, but could only find regional results: statistics.blf.org.uk/asthm...

[Bemoresquirrel in reply to Poobah]

Thank you so much for posting this! I’ve just discovered that if you touch the map, each county is split into multiple areas, with the statistics for dying from a lung condition. While not specific to asthma, it will certainly be helpful planning my next move.

[Poobah in reply to Bemoresquirrel]

🤗

[ChrissieMons]

I think you're going to get all those triggers wherever you live in the UK. You might get rid of damp and mould, but cold and stress? I'd stay put, if I were you. As you say, IoW is lovely. Twinkly's holiday home idea is the best if you really want to move.

[runcyclexcski in reply to ChrissieMons]

>>>You might get rid of damp and mould

Compared to "properly" dry places like Arizona and Nevada, all of the UK is uniformly damp and mouldy. The difference in the N of sunny days per year between Leicester and Cornwall is not that high (it may seem like it, b.c. I tend to go to Cornwall in the summer), and any place in Spain will beat in Cornwall. That said, I am not sure how good healthcare in Spain is (Las Vegas and Tuscon are good).

There are plenty of methods to deal with mould and damp wherever one lives, in one's own house, provided sufficient funding is avaialble to pay the energy bills and the material cost (ventilation, heat-recovery, HEPA filters, hardwood floors, no fluffy pillows-mattresses, etc). Most of these funds can be recovered by getting a smaller house/flat (my approach, at least) and invest into the materials, air handling, and sensors.

[runcyclexcski]

isn't the whole UK, well, an asthma country? Pretty uniform mild climate, I would think, with no "die-off" cold season, and no proper "dry" season either, diesel vehicles, etc. In my experience, access to proper healthcare (i.e. major cities with many universities and hospitals) is key for living with asthma, whereas local variations of pollen, diesel and climate in the UK are averaged out with the wind.

If I had to move for asthma reasons only (i.e. if I was rich with no job to keep ) I would move to a high elevation in the mountains, or to Arizona. I would still make sure there is a proper hospital nearby -- that would be Austria, Switzerland etc. in Europe

If I had the choice within the UK, I would move to London, and deal with the air quality via my own means -- air filtration at home etc. London is the only place in the UK where one can get Xolair w/o getting the NHS involved, AFAIK.

[Itswonderful]

Hi. I live on the Norfolk/Suffolk boarder. It is very difficult to give any helpful advice because everyone is so different. Suffolk is quite a dry county, though as we live in England and the weather is changing because of climate pressures, it is hard to say how things will be in the coming years. I find that winter is a time when I prefer to stay inside and keep warm as much as I can. But the air pollution levels are low here and we do have open countryside and a beautiful coast that keeps things that way and of course no motorways. Hurrah! I think wherever you are there can be damp and have mould spores so you need a house that keeps those things at bay. Having spent a day in London recently I was so grateful for where we live ! As for stress, well that is dependent on so many factors that it is impossible to comment on whether you would find it stressful here. Have you visited this part of the world ? Being on holiday is so different from living in a place full time isn’t it but it might give you a feel for the area. Good luck.

[Beader3]

Arizona & Nevada & Eastern California are nice & dry, there are wind/dust/dirt storms, ( mostly seasonal). some locations are worse than others for blowing dirt. I’ve spent some time there & now my Dr wants me to look into allergy injections. In damp locations we use a dehumidifier.