United States: Sneezing earlier than normal, or feeling Congested or Eyes watery? Then you might not be alone.
The specialists who focus on allergies throughout Western Pennsylvania have noted that allergy seasons stretch into longer periods along with increased severity.
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Allergy patients entered the care of Allegheny Health Network allergist and immunologist Dr. Ali Ayyash in the middle of February.
“Typically, the spring pollen season starts towards the end of March and beginning of April,” as Ayyash stated.
“It’s almost a month earlier,” he added.
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) study from 2020 demonstrated that North American pollen patterns experienced escalating concentrations along with lengthened seasons across the research period from 1990 to 2018, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Heatwave occurrences, along with elevated carbon dioxide pollution in the atmosphere, trigger early germination of plants and speed up plant pollination due to accelerated photosynthesis, explained Ayyash.
The PNAS research indicates that pollen seasons grew more severe because of global warming throughout the last thirty years.
More than fifty percent of March in Pittsburgh produced pollen levels falling under yellow and red zoning, which indicates counts from 4.9 to 12, thus leading to increased allergy symptom intensity based on data from Pollen.com’s national allergy forecast tracker.
The year is divided into three pollen seasons: tree pollen exists during spring, grass pollen appears during summer, and weeds bring about fall allergies.
What more are the experts stating?
The Pittsburgh region contains specific allergy-causing elements, which Dr. Merritt Fajt identifies as a UPMC allergy and immunology specialist.
“In this area, Timothy grass can be a major grass allergen,” as stated by Fajt, about the taller perennial type of grass.
During the spring period, trees such as oak, elm, birch, walnut, and maple act as different pollinators in the region.
Dr. Fajt refuted the common assumption that rainfall eliminates pollen by saying that rain instead reveals airborne particles that become suspended in the air.
The wind delivers many allergens that create challenges for people who try to avoid them, according to Fajt.
Seasonal allergies affect comfort mainly, but their effects intensify existing health problems of people with medical issues.
“Asthma is very affected by allergies. It can trigger your asthma. So people who have asthma just start to notice … trouble breathing, getting short of breath or winded,” as Ayyash noted.