The Facts About Pollen Allergy.
Pollen Allergy is a seasonal Allergy that is hard to get around. Read below to get the facts.
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How do you ease your Pollen Allergy?
Pollen allergy is one of the hardest allergies to avoid. You can try to stay inside your house as much as possible when the pollen count starts to climb, but even that is not a guarantee that you will be free of symptoms. An allergen that travels in the air itself seems like a rather devious way to deliver allergy symptoms to sufferers, but how do you avoid the air?
A distinguishing characteristic of pollen allergy is that it is most intense at certain times of year. Plants produce the most pollen during predictable times of year and, therefore, the pollen count and the resulting pollen allergy symptoms lend themselves to general predictions. Weather conditions can affect the process, but it has a remarkable level of consistency.
So what is a pollen count? The pollen count is determined by the amount of pollen in the air at any given point in time. Its mathematical formula is the number of grains of pollen in a square meter during a 24 hour window. Clearly, it may not be a perfectly accurate way to determine how the air will affect your symptoms, but as a general indicator, it cannot be beat.
This does not say much on the topic of avoidance. You can try to stay indoors when the pollen count is high, but this may be a case of talking to your doctor about the severity of your symptoms. Then, you and your doctor can determine the appropriate course of action and pollen allergy treatment to help you deal with your symptoms.
Allergies to pollen are hard to avoid. By talking to your doctor and keeping yourself apprised of the pollen count, you may be able to find some pollen allergy relief.
Pollen Allergies and How They affect you
Each spring, summer and fall, tiny particles known as pollen are released from trees, weeds and grasses and they hitch rides on currents of air.Their mission is to fertilize parts of other plants, but many never reach their targets. They enter human noses and throats instead, triggering a type of seasonal allergic rhinitis called pollen allergy. Many people know this as hay fever or rose fever (depending on the pollen season in which they occur ). Pollen is one of the most widespread things that can cause an hayfever allergy. There is no easy way to evade windborne pollen, short of staying indoors when the pollen count is high, and even that may not help. People who suffer from pollen allergies often develop sensitivities to other allergens such as dust mites. "Sneezin' season" has no limits for these allergy sufferers. As distinguished from seasonal allergic rhinitis, year round airborne allergens cause perennial allergic rhinitis.
What is Pollen? In order to reproduce plants must produce microscopic round or oval pollen grains. Some species of plants use the pollen from it's own flowers to fertilize itself. Others cross pollinate, that is in order for fertilization to take place, pollen must be transferred from the flower of one plant to the flower of another plant of the same species. Some plants rely on wind transport while insects do the job for certain flowering plants. Plain looking plants that do not have showy flowers, such as trees, grasses and weeds, produce the types of pollen that most commonly cause allergic reactions. These plants produce small, light , dry pollen granules that are custom made for wind transport. Samples of a plant called ragweed have been collected 2 miles high in the air and 400 miles out to sea. It does little good to rid an area of an offending plant because the pollen can drift in from many miles away, Most allergenic plants generate pollen in huge quantities, a single ragweed plant can produce a million grains of pollen a day causing widespread ragweed allergies. For the avid gardener who has pollen allergies and suffers from seasonal allergies, a pollen mask may be the solution.
The chemical makeup of pollen is the basic factor that determines whether it is likely to cause an hay fever allergy. Among North American plants, weeds are among the most prolific producers of allergenic pollen. The major culprit is ragweed, Russian thistle ( tumbleweed), English plantain, lambs quarters, redroot pigweed and sagebush are also of importance. Important sources of allergenic pollens are also grass and trees. Only a few grasses produce highly allergenic pollen, causing grass pollen allergy, although there are more than 1000 species of grass growing in north America. Those that produce allergenic pollen and which may cause grass allergies include timothy grass, Kentucky bluegrass, Johnson grass, Bermuda grass, redtop grass, orchard grass, and sweet vernal grass. Trees that produce allergenic tree pollen include oak, ash, elm, hickory, pecan, box elder and mountain cedar among others which can trigger a tree pollen allergy. It is common to hear people say that they are allergic to colorful or scented flowers like roses.The fact is only those who have prolonged close contact with flowers such as florists and gardeners, are most likely to become sensitized to pollen from these plants. Most people don't have any contact with the large, heavy, waxen pollen grains of many flowering plants because this type of pollen is not carried by wind, but insects such as butterflies and bees.
When Do Plants Make Pollen? One of the most obvious features of pollen is its seasonal nature. People only experience seasonal allergy symptoms when the pollen grains to which they are allergic are in the air. The pollinating period of each plant is more or less the the same time each year and exactly when a plant starts to pollinate seems to depend on the relative length of night and day and therefore on geographical location, rather than on the weather. A pollen count is the measure of how much pollen is in the air and is familiar to many people from local weather reports. Pollen tends to be highest early in the morning on warm, dry, breezy days and lowest during wet chilly periods. Although a pollen count is an approximate and fluctuating measure , it is useful as a general guide for when it is advisable to stay indoors and avoid contact with the pollen.
Some of the Symptoms of Pollen Allergies:
- Swelling of the nasal mucosa (allergic rhinitis)
- Allergic sinusitis
- Redness and itching of the eyes (allergic conjunctivitis)
- Sneezing, coughing, bronchoconstriction, wheezing, and dyspnea, sometimes outright attacks of allergy asthma, in severe cases the airway consricts due to swelling known as angioedema.
- Ears,Feeling of fullness, possibly pain, and impaired hearing due to the lack of eustachian tube damage.
- An allergic rash such as eczema and hives (urticaria)
- Abdominal pain, bloating, vomiting and diarrhea
Pollen Avoidance Measures: The following measures may help reduce exposure to pollen, but are yet to be proven to give allergy asthma relief:
- Remain indoors where possible on windy days or after thunderstorms
- Avoid mowing the grass or other activities known to cause allergen exposure
- Where exposure to pollen is high shower after outdoor activities
- When pollen levels are high use recirculated air in your car
Forecasting of relevant weed, grass and tree pollen counts may be of use to people who suffer with asthma and known allergies to pollen and sensitivities. Pollen counts are routinely quoted on weather forecasts in the USA, but their clinical utility has not yet been tested. If you believe you have an allergy to pollen, allergy testing will help determine which pollen allergens are most likely to be giving you symptoms of allergies. A range of natural allergy relief products are available, and in conjunction with any medications prescribed by your doctor you should be able to find a suitable allergy treatment to give you relief from allergy and/or pollen hayfever.
Additional Resources for Pollen Allergy
Pollen.com
Providing information on pollen, and a personalized daily pollen forecast.
Pollen Allergy
Pollen Allergy Information ... Of all the things that can cause an allergy, pollen is one of the most pervasive. ... (allergy-producing) pollen comes ...
Pollen Allergy
In some people, pollen can trigger a type of seasonal allergy, which many people ... the things that can cause an allergy, pollen is one of the most widespread. ...
What are the bloggers saying about Pollen Allergy?
Is Pollen Causing Your Seasonal Suffering? The great outdoors may not seem as great if you are allergic to pollen. (...) source..
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The male plant produces pollen as a means to fertilize female plants and is transported to the female plants by two primary means. The first is by using insects to transfer the pollen the female plants and the second is by using wind or ... source..
As the climate changes, more pollen and smog-induced asthma is likely to surface. Dr. Paul Beggs, an environmental health scientist from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, indicates that allergy-triggering pollen such as ragweed ... source..
News about Pollen Allergy
Allergies acting up? The first instinct for a sufferer might be to crawl back under the covers and away from the light of day. A number of celebrities, such as Jessica Simpson, are known to suffer from various allergies. (Getty Images/AP Photo) But ... source..
Each spring, summer, and fall, tiny particles are released from trees, weeds, and grasses. These particles, known as pollen, hitch rides on currents of air. Although their mission is to fertilize parts of other plants, many never reach their targets ... source..
As anyone knows who has been engulfed in a reddish-brown cloud of mountain cedar pollen, rolling in on cool northerly winds like a great army of fire ants looking to build their mounds in our noses, the fall allergy season in San Antonio can be ... source..
Sneezing is not always the symptom of a cold. Sometimes, it is an allergic reaction to something in the air. Experts estimate that 35 million Americans suffer from upper respiratory symptoms that are allergic reactions to airborne pollen. Pollen ... source..
Wh en you live in the capital, your health automatically becomes secondary. Given the pollution, dust and millions of people constantly in your space, it is easy to confuse symptoms of allergies with colds or to simply blame them on the conditions of ... source..
SPRING can be particularly trying. Just when we have recovered from the colds and fl u that do the rounds in winter we have to stock up with boxes of tissues once again as noses and eyes start streaming. Up to 20 per cent of South Africans suff er ... source..
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