Knowing what sets you off can help you stay on top.
Right now, if you are suffering the seasonal allergy blues, blame the grass, but if the symptoms get out of control, you may want to talk to your doctor.
Allergist David Kerxton, of Drs. Golden and Matz LLC in Baltimore, provides official pollen counts and mold estimates to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology every day through the allergy season.
“I?m counting actual tree and grass pollen grains that are airborne,” Kerxton told The Examiner.
He uses a device called an “intermittent rotorod” to collect pollen grains from the air above his clinic.
Two greased rods spin for 60 seconds every 10 minutes for 24 hours.
Kerxton then dips the rods in a dye and counts, under a microscope, the number and different types of pollen grains he finds.
“The pollens are the most common of the outdoor allergens,” he said. “When your car is yellow and not blue like it?s supposed to be, then I know it?s going to be a busy day.”
Nearly 60 million Americans suffer from allergies, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
That?s more than diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer?s and Parkinson?s combined.
Though they likely won?t kill you, they cost the national health care system $18 billion a year.
If you do spend some time with your local allergist, you may get a preventative steroid nasal spray, but these require some planning and a good awareness of your particular allergens.
“You take them one or two weeks before the start of pollen season. It takes time for the medicine to take effect,” said allergist Dr. Alvin Sanico, medical director of the Asthma Sinus Allergy Program at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. “Rescue medications like antihistamines are fast-acting, but the result is temporary.”
He said the effects of ignoring your allergies can be compounded.
“Nerves can become more reactive and produce a more exaggerated response,” he said.
