The grass is greener, the flowers are blooming and the Reds are playing, which means… allergies are in the air.
Allergies can be frustrating and sometimes debilitating for those who are suffering. And maybe also for those who have to listen to people complain about their suffering.
So we wondered: How do allergies work, and what can we do to avoid them?
Who are the biggest culprits?
If you really want something to blame… blame the wind.
“The plants that contribute the most to seasonal allergies are ones that are wind-pollinated,” said graduate researcher at the Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Max Winkeljohn.
Because these plants are not manually pollinated from flower to flower by an insect, bird, or other organism, they produce “a large amount of pollen that is released and gets picked up by the wind.” The goal is for the wind to blow pollen into another plant, fertilizing it, but unfortunately, humans get caught in the crossfire.
“The vast majority of the pollen produced just gets blown around and inhaled by people and animals, which leads to a variety of allergic reactions,” said Winkeljohn.
In the region, the usual suspects for seasonal allergies are oaks, maples, birches, walnuts and hickory trees. However, depending on what lives near you or what you have planted in your garden, “there could be a number of other plants that are causing your allergies, such as conifers (like pines and spruce trees), beeches, ash trees, and alders,” said Winkeljohn.
So, we know where this dreaded pollen comes from, and now we wonder: Why now?
The time of year a plant produces pollen depends on the type of plant. However, Winkeljohn said that “nearly all of the wind-pollinated trees produce and release their pollen in early to mid-spring.”
These plants release a lot of their pollen before their leaves have come out for the season.
“Many trees will continue to produce some pollen after they’ve pushed their leaves, but those leaves will often act as a very effective barrier, preventing the pollen from being blown around,” said Winkeljohn. This means that by late spring, allergy sufferers will get a break from the pollen for the start of summer.
If you live near a farm, however, Winkeljohn said, “you may find yourself sneezing as certain crops, particularly many cereal crops like corn and wheat, release their pollen.”
While there is a bit of a mid-summer reprieve, Winkeljohn said, allergies come back in the fall, while not as strong, due to pollen production from plants like “goldenrod, the infamous ragweed and various grasses.”
Who suffers from allergies?
If you’ve lived in the Greater Cincinnati area for any amount of time, you may have heard, “the allergies here are worse than they are anywhere in the world.” Well, according to Dr. Hans Otto, a practitioner at Family Allergy and Asthma clinics in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area, that isn’t true.
Wherever you are on earth, Otto said, about 15 to 30% of the population suffers from allergies. Otto, who has traveled the world with the Air Force, said that he has heard the “worst place on our earth for allergies” line everywhere from Korea to Anchorage, Alaska to Germany.
The actual worst place on earth, Otto said, is Texas, where the population of allergy sufferers is closer to 20 to 40% because they have a tree that blooms in the winter.
The reason we tend to think it’s more: selection bias, according to Otto.
“So everybody that’s miserable, it will be obvious that they’re miserable, they will say that they’re miserable, and they’ll find other people that commiserate with them being miserable. Whereas the other 70% of people that don’t suffer from allergies will just nod their head and say sorry,” said Otto.
So, while only 15 to 30% of people deal with allergies, they are a loud bunch, which inflates people’s perception of the true numbers.
There are also risk factors that make people more likely to suffer from allergies, like asthma “60 to 80% of people with asthma will have allergic triggers,” said Otto.
What can we do about allergies?
So, you’re one of the unlucky 15 to 30%; what can you do?
“Masks work,” said Otto. He said that even before COVID-19, doctors knew how effective masks were. However, Otto said that masks are cultural, which can lead to some trepidation for those who it would help.
“In American culture, if you wear a mask, you are probably a bank robber is our cultural bias. So Americans don’t like masks, but they are effective,” said Otto.
Staying inside with the doors and windows closed and the air conditioning running either in your home or in your car is also very effective, according to Otto. He also suggests cleaning your air filters consistently.
Avoiding allergens is nearly impossible this time of year unless you just don’t leave your house so many will turn to medications to improve their symptoms.
Over-the-counter oral antihistamines work fine for those with mild symptoms, said Otto, but those with more moderate to severe symptoms should turn to nasal sprays.
Otto also suggests over-the-counter eye drops, “you’ll know the best anti-allergy eye drops because those are the ones that will be sold out in a month.”
There are also prescription medications as well as allergy shots, which Otto said allergy can improve symptoms 70 to 100%.
