Why is pollen getting worse




















For instance, she might start with antihistamines for itching and runny nose, steroid nasal sprays for nasal passage congestion, and antihistamine eye drops for ocular symptoms. Likewise, some patients should avoid antihistamines that are excessively sedating, she says.

Hsu says. For shots, patients go to the allergist over a period of weeks, then transfer to monthly injections; small doses are used initially, then increased over a period of time. If you are having seasonal allergy symptoms, the CDC and Yale Medicine doctors offer the following non-medical strategies to help both adults and children:. Check the daily pollen count the number of grains of pollen in a cubic meter of air based on a sample taken in a hour period before you decide to spend time outdoors.

The measure is reported as low, moderate, high, or very high. You can sign up with the National Allergy Bureau for notifications with information for your area. Both doctors also tell people who know they are prone to allergies to talk to their doctors before their worst season hits so they can be prepared.

You can take steps to minimize those weeks of misery. Skip to Main Content. There are solutions, including over-the-counter medications and allergy shots. If you are having seasonal allergy symptoms, the CDC and Yale Medicine doctors offer the following non-medical strategies to help both adults and children: Stay in the house if you can, particularly on windy days.

The largest and most consistent increases were in Texas and the midwestern United States, the study found — something that surprised Anderegg. He had expected to see larger pollen increase in more northern states.

One hypothesis might be that the plant species that are found there are particularly sensitive to warming and producing more pollen. The study looked at different drivers for this change, including temperatures changes, rainfall, frost days and carbon dioxide concentrations, and it found that an increase in mean annual temperatures was the strongest driver.

View Profile. Author Daniel A. Reasons for Worsening Allergies There are actually a few different reasons for your spring allergy woes. Why Climate Change is Making You Sneeze More Spring allergies in Florida are mostly caused by tree pollen from a variety of species, including oak, bayberry, cedar, cypress, Australian pine and many others.

The bottom line? The more CO2 in the atmosphere, the more pollen we have to deal with. Spring Allergy Solutions to Try at Home If pollen is an allergy trigger for you, the best thing that you can do is avoid it. Check your local weather station or a trusted national source like AAAAI before you plan your day, then take the following precautions: Keep your doors and windows closed when pollen counts are high.

Set car and home air conditioning systems to recirculate indoor air. During allergy season, wash your bedding and vacuum carpets more frequently to remove any lingering pollen. Dry clothes in a drying machine instead of hanging them up outdoors on a line or rack. Take your shoes off at the door to avoid tracking pollen into your home. Do most of your outdoor activities in the morning and evening, as pollen counts tend to peak around midday.

Choosing the Right Allergy Medication Allergy medications can greatly reduce your symptoms, but what medications should you be taking? Understand the Risks Another reason to tackle pollen season with the help of an allergist? When to Start Taking an Allergy Medication Allergies can make you feel just as badly as if you had a nasty cold. About this author. That can lead to annoying but mild symptoms like hives or itchy eyes. But it can also cause life-threatening complications like anaphylaxis , where blood pressure plummets and airways start swelling shut.

Pollen is one of the most common allergens. The timing of pollen production varies depending on the plant species, with trees peaking in the spring, grass over the summer, and ragweed in the fall. There are two main ways that humans are changing pollen production. One mechanism is that humans are increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have risen from parts per million in the s to ppm today.

Plants that produce more pollen tend to produce more seeds. That also means more pollen-spewing plants in the next season. The other mechanism is the warming induced by carbon dioxide.

Since it traps heat, higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are causing the planet to heat up. This is leading to warmer winters and earlier springs, giving plants a head start on pollen production. The combination of these two factors is leading to more pollen production and over a longer period of time. Attribution is the growing climate science field that seeks to figure out not just how the climate is changing but also to what extent human activity is specifically to blame — and what amount of change might have occurred otherwise, without human meddling.

Researchers have now begun to attribute changes in allergens to human activity. In a study published in February in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , Ziska, Anderegg, and their colleagues calculated that human impacts on the climate account for roughly half of the increase in the length of pollen seasons in North America.

Human-caused climate change also accounts for 8 percent of the observed increases in pollen concentrations.



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