‘i have to take medication because my immune system decided kinkshaming the trees is more important than breathing’ is objectively an insane concept. thumbs down to seasonal allergies.
What better way to celebrate than to **ACHOO!!**….wait, what were we saying?
Ah, spring! Grass growing, flowers blooming, trees growing new leaves, but if you get allergies, this explosion of new life probably inspires more dread than joy.
Step outside, and within minutes, you’re sneezing and congested. Your nose is running, your eyes are swollen and watery, your throat is itchy. For you and millions of others, it’s seasonal allergy time. So what’s behind this onslaught of mucus?
The answer lies within you. It’s your immune system. Seasonal allergies, also called hay fever, or allergic rhinitis, are a hypersensitive immune response to something that’s not actually harmful. Pollen from trees and grass, and mold spores from tiny fungi find their way into your mucous membranes and your body attacks these innocuous travelers the same way it would infectious bacteria.
The immune system has a memory. When a foreign substance gets tagged as threatening, white blood cells produce customized antibodies that will recognize the offender the next time around. They then promptly recruit the body’s defense team. But sometimes, the immune system accidentally discriminates against harmless substances, like pollen. When it wafts in again, antibodies on the surface of white blood cells recognize it and latch on.
This triggers the cell to release inflammatory chemicals, like histamine, which stimulate nerve cells, and cause blood vessels in the mucous membranes to swell and leak fluid. In other words, itchiness, sneezing, congestion, and a runny nose.
Allergies usually, but not always, show up for the first time during childhood. But why do some people get allergies and others don’t? Allergies tend to run in families, so genetics may be one culprit. In fact, errors in a gene that helps regulate the immune system are associated with higher rates of allergies. The environment you grow up in matters, too. Being exposed to an allergen as a baby makes you less likely to actually develop an allergy to it. People who grow up on farms, in big families, and in the developing world also tend to have fewer allergies, although there are plenty of exceptions, partly thanks to genetics. One theory is that as children, they encounter more of the microbes and parasites that co-evolved with traditional hunter-gatherer societies.
Called the hygiene hypothesis, the idea is that when the immune system isn’t exposed to the familiar cast of microbes, it’ll keep itself busy mounting defenses against harmless substances, like pollen. Another theory is that an immune system toughened up by a barrage of pathogens is less likely to overreact to allergens. Pollen is a common offender, just because we encounter so much of it, but there’s a long list of substances: dust, animal dander, insect venom, medications, certain foods, that can send your immune system into overdrive. Some of these reactions can be scary. An allergy can develop into full-blown anaphylaxis, which typically brings on severe swelling, shortness of breath, and very low blood pressure. It can be deadly.
But as we who suffer from seasonal allergies know, even non-life threatening allergy symptoms can make you miserable. So what can you do about it? Medications can help reduce the symptoms. The most common ones keep histamines from binding to your cells. These antihistamines stop the inflammation response. Steroids can help dial down the immune system. Another more permanent option is immunotherapy. Deliberate, controlled exposure to gradually increasing amounts of an allergen can teach the immune system that it isn’t dangerous after all.
Of course, you can always just wait your seasonal allergies out. The spring pollen onslaught dwindles by mid-summer…just in time for ragweed season!
Hay Fever – Herbs for Seasonal Allergies (Allergic Rhinitis)
Approximately 20% of Americans suffer from hay fever (allergic rhinitis) or seasonal allergies.
The primary part of the body affected by this allergic reaction is the membrane that lines the nasal passages making them swell.
This causes nasal discharge, sneezing, itching, and difficulty breathing.
The allergic reaction is brought upon by airborne materials; commonly pollen of grass and trees in the spring, and ragweed in summer and fall.
It is a good idea to use herbal remedies and supplements for hay fever as a preventive tool before spring and summer arrive instead of treating the symptoms of hay fever as they arrive.
They will catch you… Or isn’t it rather youwho will catch them? Coming very soon to your garden, parks, cities, villages… well… mostly everywhere.
A spoof of your average blockbuster epic trailer. With the obliged spoiler of the movie’s key scene: THE SNEEZING!
I wanted to pay a tribute to a recurring state that hits me every year at the same period since I’m 10: pollen allergies. It’s been so long, we’re like good old friends now!
TRIVIA:
All the fake names at the end are among the plants I’m sensitive to.
Aerioos is a spoof of Aerius, a treatment for allergies
Klinex is a spoof of a famous tissues brand, that one uses in mass when allergic!
‘i have to take medication because my immune system decided kinkshaming the trees is more important than breathing’ is objectively an insane concept. thumbs down to seasonal allergies.
“I just want my body to stop telling shrubbery it is problematic”
Sex pollen is real and my body is violently rejecting it
