The high humidity and warmer temperatures we've been experiencing are a nice break from the -40ºC Manitobans are used to, but it can be difficult for those with respiratory problems.

Southern Health-Santé Sud Vice-President of Medical Services, Dr. Denis Fortier, says although most people have two healthy, fully functioning lungs, those with chronic obstructive lung diseases, chronic smokers, lung cancer patients or people with asthma have a decreased lung capacity and their breathing can be affected negatively by extreme weather conditions.

"So, 100% humidity means there's a lot of water in that air," notes Dr. Fortier. "When you're used to walking around and running outside and breathing air with only 30% or 40% water content, as you're breathing in, your body is kind of used to that. But, suddenly, when you're having to breathe in 100% humidity, what that does is it's displacing other important things, like oxygen."

He adds because you're breathing in more water than oxygen it will affect how you feel. Dr. Fortier says an individual who is not getting enough oxygen would start to feel nauseated, dizzy, develop headaches or not be thinking as clearly. In extreme cases, he says fingertips and areas around the mouth can start to turn blue.

"If you notice you're struggling on a high humidity day, that's a bit of a warning sign. Yes, you can take your puffer so that you can get from this point to your house, but get into some air conditioning rooms and get the humidity levels down and get your lungs functioning better again. There comes a point where the lungs just can't keep up and then it's almost like a vicious cycle that goes from bad to worse."

Dr. Fortier adds, not only does high humidity levels affect those with respiratory problems, but also extreme high and low temperatures. He says our bodies work best at 37ºC. "We breathe out hot air and we breathe in cool air, and our body knows that and it's part of our thermal regulation. So now, all of a sudden, if we're breathing hot air in, or very cold air in, we're kind of messing around with our thermal regulation, we're also messing around with the cells at the cellular level of our lungs that are used to a certain temperature."