Plants are growing furiously throughout Utah, thanks to exceptionally heavy rain and snow this spring. That's good news for gardeners, but it threatens pollen allergy sufferers with a miserable few months.
"When it finally dries off, the pollen season is probably going to be really, really bad," said Dr. Lowell M. Jones, an allergist who practices in a private clinic and also at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, both in Provo.The drying is a factor, because precipitation temporarily keeps pollen out of the air. However, the tiny yellow dustlike cells take off again as soon as the puddles dry.
Jones and Dr. Charles Rogers, an allergist at Cottonwood Hospital, Murray, will answer questions about hay fever, asthma and other problems related to allergies this weekend during the Deseret News/Intermountain Health Care Hotline.
Callers may phone on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1-800-925-8177. The call is toll-free from anywhere in the continental United States, and callers' identities are confidential.
Tree pollen has been flying for about five weeks, and grass pollen should begin in two or three weeks, Jones warned.
"The two common problems that allergy to pollen causes are hay fever, or as it's more correctly known, allergic rhinitis and . . . allergic asthma," he said. Sometimes asthma will develop between one and five years after a severe bout of hay fever.Hay fever symptoms are paroxysms of sneezing, a stuffed or runny nose, and eyes that itch and water. It's caused by allergic reactions to pollen.
Asthma is an acute obstruction of the lower airways, often triggered by an allergic reaction. It is sometimes a killer disease, and the death rate in this country has been going up in the past decade.
One class of people harmed by allergies, who could have treatment sooner, are youngsters. "I see a lot of patients who have been told by a pediatrician or a family doctor that allergies cannot be diagnosed or treated until a child is 8 or 10 years old," he said.
"In fact, a skin test - the primary means of diagnosing this - can be accurately done at about six months of age." The tests show whether the person is likely to have an adverse reaction to a number of possibly allergic substances.
Injections to control pollen allergies work well after about three years of age, he said. That means many children are afflicted with unpleasant seasonal reactions who may be helped, because their parents mistakenly think they're too young.
What causes pollen allergies? "Apparently infections, and this is primarily viral infections," Jones answered. "The common cold can frequently do it."
A bad infection disrupts the lining to the nose and upper airways. At that point, the wounded tissues can absorb enough pollen to trigger the body to produce antibodies that are intended to fight the "invading" material.
The first thing that should be done to prevent allergic reactions is to recognize whether there's a family history of this affliction, and "control, avoid or treat infection very early, so they don't have sufficient time to allow the onset of allergies," Jones said.
Other steps are:
- Recognize an allergic reaction. "Don't attribute it to bronchitis or other things."
- Avoid the allergen if possible. For someone allergic to dog or cat hair, the answer is obvious, if not pleasant: get rid of the animal. But those allergic to pollen will have a harder time, since it shows up 400 miles at sea and up to 65,000 feet in the atmosphere.
- Treat the allergy with medication, like over-the-counter combinations of antihistamines and decongestants.
- "You can go to a doctor and get the newer non-sedating antihistamines." Some must not be used with other common medicines, like one used to combat fungus; consult the doctor about what to avoid.
- Finally, an allergist can give special injections to ameliorate the reactions. Standardization of antigen doses has made the injections more efficient than a decade ago.
The Hotline provides free telephone consultations on a host of medical conditions, on the second Saturday of every month.