Reducing Allergy Symptoms
Pollen Count
March 8, 2001--
The flu season may be over, but another season of sniffling and sneezing is beginning.
Pollen counts are soaring today -- elm tree pollen is particularly high -- and allergy sufferers are experiencing the first wheezing breath of Spring.
Science Specialist Ed Yeates has details.
The sneezin' season is upon us. Before allergy treatments began, Claron Bjork would have been suffering by now. He remembers what it was like three years ago.
CLARON BJORK, ALLERGY PATIENT: "BEFORE I STARTED THE SHOTS I USE TO GO THROUGH THREE OR FOUR BOXES OF KLEENEX A DAY. AND YOUR NOSE! YOU WOULD HAVE TO STUFF KLEENEX UP YOUR NOSE AT NIGHT SO YOU COULD GO TO SLEEP."
ED YEATES, SCIENCE SPECIALIST: "FOR NOW, THIS IS THE MAJOR VILLAIN - THE ELM TREE - AND THEY GROW ALL OVER THE PLACE. AND IT'S THE LITTLE BUDS THAT ARE RAISING THE POLLEN COUNT."
In the science of counting pollen and placing it on a scale, anything 50 or above is considered extremely high. Elm today went off scale at a whopping 882.
Soon to follow on the allergy platter:
Maples, cottonwood and cedar - which is one of the worst.
Topped with birch, alder, ash, and mulberry.
But watch out for the main course coming at the end of May - the grasses!
By then, doctors specializing in allergies won't be able to handle all the patients.
DUANE HARRIS, M.D., INTERMOUNTAIN ALLERGY & ASTHMA CLINIC: "DURING THE PEAK OF THE ALLGERY SEASON, WE END UP TURNING PATIENTS AWAY BECAUSE WE CAN'T FIT THEM IN WITH THE FOLLOWUPS. AND, YOU KNOW, I COME IN ON MY DAY OFF AND SEE PATIENTS - AND DURING THE PEAK OF THE GRASS SEASON I'LL FREQUENTLY NOT BE ABLE TO SEE ALL OF THE PATIENTS."
So, season 2001 has begun - a blowin' in the wind - and at a time when more people than ever before seem to be developing sensitivities to allergens - and asthma.
The problem with this time of the year is that with the cold and flu season winding down and allergies coming on, you may not know what's actually making you sick.
Reducing Allergy Symptoms
Today's Pollen Count
