Ah, fall. That glorious time of year when -- sniff, sniff -- the leaves are changing color, wildflowers are pushing -- scratch, scratch -- out their last blaze of color and the morning air -- ah, ah, ahchoo! -- is wonderfully brisk. \nOK, so maybe instead, fall is that miserable time of year filled with pollen, mold, sneezing, itchy eyes and noses, and lots of trips to the IU Health Center for allergy medication. \nGraduate student Melissa Scotti knows all about seasonal allergies. \n"I really never had severe allergies until I moved to Bloomington. I would get a stuffy nose sometimes in the spring, but it wasn't bad. But as soon as I moved here, I started having severe allergies: really terrible sinus headaches, sore throats, stuffy nose, cough ... basically, I felt pretty miserable," Scotti said. "It made studying, teaching and class work all that much more difficult. The allergist put me on steroids for a little while and I was also given a cocktail of nasal spray, two types of allergy medications and antibiotics. Needless to say, it was not fun."\nMarielle Abell, a certified physician's assistant at the IU Health Center, said from her experience it's quite common for students from out-of-state to come to Bloomington and experience an increase in severity of symptoms. She likes to joke with patients, "There's a reason this town is called Bloomington -- there's always something blooming. Of course, not everyone has allergies, but when you live somewhere that has so many possible allergens in the environment, you might be more prone to developing allergic symptoms." \nAnd for seasonal allergy sufferers, this year might be one of the worst, said allergists. With pollen counts high and little rain this summer to wash the particles away, there's more left in the air to make people sneeze. \nAccording to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, more than 50 million Americans suffer from allergies. A recent nationwide survey published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology found more than half of all U.S. citizens tested positive to one or more allergens, a number that has been increasing since the early 1980s. The most common sources of allergens are dust mites, rye, ragweed and cockroaches, all of which are commonly found in Bloomington.
Your immune system and \nallergies: the basics\nWhen the immune system is functioning properly, it works like a well-trained and disciplined biological warfare unit: harmful invaders like viruses are identified and destroyed. But when the immune system becomes too sensitive and starts identifying harmless substances as invaders and responding too ferociously, allergies result. \nScientists agree that allergies are always triggered by proteins. These proteins are identified by lymphocytes, a specific type of white blood cell that circulates through the body. These lymphocytes are like mobile customs agents, checking for passports and making sure every cell they encounter is supposed to be in the body. If the lymphocyte encounters a cell that is an invader (called an antigen), it performs a microscopic version of taking mug shots and fingerprints of the invader. The lymphocyte then takes this information back to the lymph nodes so antibodies can be made to fight against the invading antigen.\nIgE, one of the five basic types of antibodies, is responsible for allergies. Normally a person's genetic code contains enough information to allow the lymphocytes to distinguish between harmful and non-harmful invaders. But in a person with allergies, the lymphocytes didn't get the departmental memo that the pollen inhaled into the lungs isn't actually invading the body. These misinformed lymphocytes rally the IgE troops, which attach themselves to a number of different cells throughout the body that release a substance called histamine.\nThe first time this happens, the person is sensitized to the substance identified by the lymphocyte and not much happens. But the next time the antigen "invades" the body, biological warfare, or allergies, results.
The allergic reaction -- why should you worry?\nHistamine is normally good thing because the body uses it to fight infection. But too much histamine in the body is bad because it can cause a drop in blood pressure and, depending on where the allergic reaction is happening, can cause itching, hives, swelling, sneezing, wheezing, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. \nIf someone is especially sensitive to the "invading" protein, his or her whole body could be affected by the histamine and small blood vessels all over the body begin to swell. If the reaction is bad enough, hives can develop over large areas of the body and the individual might have breathing difficulties accompanied by a rapid and severe drop in blood pressure. \nIn a severe reaction, thinking becomes muddled as the brain and other vital organs become oxygen-starved. To make matters worse, cell fluids dumped into throat tissues can cause the throat to swell shut, leading to anaphylactic shock and death in as little as three or four minutes after exposure to the antigen or the onset of symptoms. Abell said anaphylactic shock is rare but serious when it happens. \nSeasonal allergies can sometimes cause a problem called cross-reactivity. According to NIAID, a common form of cross-reactivity occurs in people who are extremely sensitive to ragweed pollen. During ragweed season, which typically lasts from mid-August through the first hard frost, these individuals might find that when they eat melons, especially cantaloupe and honeydew, their mouths itch and swallowing becomes difficult. This is because their lymphocytes mistake the cantaloupe proteins for ragweed pollen proteins and react as if they are ragweed. Similarly, people who react to birch pollen might find they also react to apple peels.
How to treat your allergies\nThere are a number of options for treating allergies, both over-the-counter and by prescription. \nPrescription and OTC antihistamines help reduce sneezing, itchiness and a runny nose associated with allergies, and work best if taken before exposure to allergens, Abell said. Some of these medications can cause side-effects like drowsiness and dry mouth.\nIf you don't want to take antihistamines because of the side effects, OTC decongestants can help alleviate stuffy noses. There are also OTC nasal sprays, such as cromolyn sodium, that prevent allergens from entering the body through the nose. Nasal sprays may take two to four weeks to start working, and they work best if used before you're exposed to the allergens, Abell said. Another method of clearing sinuses is to use a neti pot, a device that looks much like a teapot but is used to irrigate nasal passages with warm saline. Neti pots can be purchased online or may be found in many health food or alternative medicine stores. Abell said some people find the sensation to be too strange, but many others find it is the only method that consistently helps control airborne allergy problems. \nAnother option is immunotherapy treatment, more commonly known as allergy shots. Increasingly higher doses of allergens are injected into a person's body during a long period of time until he or she gradually becomes less sensitive to them, according to NIAID. Allergy shots have proven effective for symptoms caused by grass, tree and weed pollens, dust mites, cat dander, certain molds and stinging insects. Allergy shots are the only current treatment that has the potential to provide long-term prevention of allergy symptoms because they continue to work even after the shots stop.\nBut the easiest way to avoid the misery of seasonal allergies, said Abell, is to avoid the objects that cause your allergies. \n"I recommend that people with seasonal allergies shower at the end of the day, right before bed, because that limits the allergens that end up on your pillow and in your bed," said Abell. "You should avoid going outside on high pollen count days and use the air conditioner instead of opening windows. And if you have a mold allergy, you can get a dehumidifier"
