Nov. 11, 2022 — Karen Ruckert doesn’t look forward to wintertime. The 69-year-old in Far Rockaway, NY, has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which makes breathing difficult at the best of times, especially during walking. But the cold air makes everything worse.
“Cold takes my breath away — literally,” says Ruckert.
Nava Myers, a 31-year-old dental hygienist, has a similar problem. She has asthma. In cold weather, her lungs constrict. “If I’m walking, I have to stop, catch my breath, and I wheeze. I feel the tightness and constriction as soon as I walk out the door.”
People with respiratory disorders (like asthma, COPD,…
