Additional Information
Tips For Reducing Symptoms
Pollen Count
(3/17/99)
It's an attack by air!
You can't see it--
but thousands of us are feeling it.
It's pollen!
Blaine Botkin says, "Sometimes it's tough to drive. It's tough to breathe at times, during certain times of the year."
People like Steve Bender who are allergic to trees, hate this time of year -- while trees are budding, Steve is wheezing.
"I'm allergic to maple trees. I can drive by a grove of maple trees and feel the effect just like that," he says.
Dr. Alan Bitner, an allergist with the Intermountain Allergy and Asthma Clinic, is suddenly very busy.
Patients are streaming in for skin tests, to determine just what they are allergic to -- they'll be getting shots at least once a week for up to three years.
Dr. Bitner says, "The tree pollen started out very slow and all of the sudden with this last three or four or five days of real nice weather, we've seen the pollen count go way up."
So why is the pollen so high so soon this year?
Dr. Bitner says it has to do with moisture and temperature -- trees can begin pollinating at different times of the season, and this year, the season is about three weeks early.
