SNEEZING SEASON
Attention, allergy sufferers! Our guide will help you breathe easier this fall.
Fall means pumpkin spice lattes, Halloween—and ragweed season. If you suffer from seasonal allergies this time of the year, you’re not alone. Allergens affect more than 50 million Americans each year. Dee Gouveia, a 48-year-old teacher in Heath, Texas, is one of them. “When my allergies are at their peak, I get itchy eyes, a sore throat and a stuffy nose,” she says. Left untreated, this can cause sinus infections and breathing issues, and in extreme situations, it requires Gouveia to reach for an inhaler.
What causes allergies and what can you do about it? Read on.
WHY ALLERGIES OCCUR
Allergies strike when a particle, like pollen or pet dander, is inhaled or lands in a person’s eyes. “About 30 to 40 percent of the population has immune systems that recognize allergens as being something bad that attacks the body,” says Alan Goldsobel, M.D., an allergist with Allergy and Asthma Associates of Northern California. For those people, the allergen triggers an allergic reaction. Blame the chemical histamine, says Sandra Hong, M.D., an allergist and immunologist at Cleveland Clinic. Found in the body’s cells, histamine fights allergens in a sometimes irritating way: “The release of histamine causes those immediate things like a sneeze or getting a really drippy nose,” she says.
WHAT ALLERGIES LOOK LIKE
In addition to sneezing and having a runny nose, allergy sufferers may have “congestion, itchy eyes, swelling of the eyes and an itchy nose,” says Goldsobel. Allergens may exacerbate asthmatic symptoms, causing coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath.
Those who are allergic to plants such as ragweed or birch tree may also be susceptible to oral allergy syndrome, where certain
raw fruits and vegetables make their mouths itchy. Gouveia tends to avoid melons, cucumbers, carrots and some tree fruits for this reason. “My mouth and throat will become itchy, and I get a sore throat,” she says. Cooking these foods, however,
changes their molecular structure. (That’s why some ragweed sufferers may be bothered by raw bananas but can tolerate banana bread.) “Oral allergy symptoms are not life-threatening 99.9 percent of the time, and people don’t need to avoid those foods preemptively,” says Goldsobel. But be aware and avoid them if you have issues.