Metro Detroit air quality affecting health as Canadian wildfires rage on

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Coughing a lot lately? You’re not alone. 

Wildfires in Canada are causing Metro Detroit a lot of problems, including an air quality alert that continues through Monday night.

What they're saying:

Dr. Wasfeh Musheinesh, or Dr. Mush, is seeing a lot of breathing attacks. He heads the largest free clinic in Michigan HUDA, the Health Unit on Davison Avenue on Detroit’s West Side.

FOX 2 caught up with him at his clinic in Lincoln Park.

"We are seeing needle nights coming in with respiratory distress," he said. "They are wheezing, hacking and everything."

Musheinesh says it’s all because of the Canadian wildfires and blowing that soot into Metro Detroit.

Dig deeper:

After a short medical history, checking the lungs, possibly getting an x-ray- and then blowing into a lung capacity machine, the doctor can get a better idea of how badly the air is affecting a patient.

"Typically, if you became more serious, I’d put an IV and give you all the medication in the IV," said Musheinesh. "Which we’ve been doing a lot and get good results with it? Substantial results, but it’s a shame that we have to reach there."