Allergies affect many people of all ages every year.
“It takes time out of my day if I don?t take my medicine,” said Darryl Harris, a senior at Reginald F. Lewis High School with severe allergies.
Allergies are caused by allergens ? particles such as pollen, dust mites and animal dander.
“People with allergies have certain antibodies that are allergic to pollen proteins,” said Dr. Michael Goldman, an allergist with Silver and Goldman.
“If pollen comes in contact with your eyes, then it will make you have itchy eyes, and if it comes in contact with your nose, then you?ll have a runny nose,” Goldman said.
To avoid coming into contact with allergens, Goldman recommends closing windows at home and taking baths or showers to remove any pollen from your hair.
For kids who don?t know if they have allergies yet, parents should look for a pattern in their child?s symptoms from year to year, Goldman said. If symptoms always occur at a certain time of every year, it?s probably allergies and not a common cold.
“The best way to find out if you have allergies is to have a allergy test,” he said. This test consists of placing an allergen extract on the skin and seeing if the skin reacts, Goldman said.
So while you may want to stop and smell the flowers this spring, if you have allergies you might need to admire from afar.
Malcolm Favor is a senior at Reginald F. Lewis High School in Baltimore. He interned with The Examiner.
