Fall allergies are becoming more severe for some in Michigan
- The most common seasonal allergy is hay fever, which is an allergic reaction to trees, grass and weeds
- Many individuals experience hay fever in the spring when the season changes but some experts say fall allergies are becoming more severe
- Climate change and air pollution are common factors that may exacerbate fall allergies for some
As many as 60 million people in the U.S. suffer from seasonal allergies each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
But if you suspect that things have gotten worse of late, you may be right. According to some experts, seasonal allergy season is starting earlier in the spring and lasting later in the fall, causing people to be exposed longer to allergens.
Seasonal allergies, also known as allergic rhinitis or hay fever, are a reaction to pollen from trees, grasses and weeds, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
Allergic reactions can include coughing, sneezing, hives, rashes, itchy eyes, a runny nose or a scratchy throat. Serious reactions can cause breathing trouble or induce asthma attacks.
During the spring, pollen from trees and grass is the most common irritant but in the fall the most common allergy is mold and pollen from ragweed and other plants.
Fall allergy season, “usually starts in August, and it'll start to end usually … like mid-October,” said Dr. Erica Ridley, an allergy specialist for Henry Ford Health. This year, however, allergy sufferers might still be feeling the effects well into November.
“With climate change and air pollution, we've noticed that this does create some differences in the pollen and so we've actually been seeing pollen season start earlier than usual and last even longer than it usually does,” Ridley said.
“Usually it'll last until mid October, but with the constantly warming of the weather and then the more rainy conditions that we've seen we can see it last until mid-November even.”
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The elongated allergy season has caused some people to experience more intense fall allergies.
“The amount of pollen we're exposed to has actually gone up,” said Dr. Devang Doshi, a pulmonologist and allergist for Corewell Health. “People are more symptomatic and it's because … the exposure time is longer and/or the amount of pollen that they're exposed to is more.”
Earlier springs and later falls give weeds more time to grow and produce more pollen.
“Weeds … grow bigger because their growing time is longer, and then the amount of pollen that they're releasing is much higher because they're growing bigger and they've got a longer period of time where they're actually growing to release pollen”, Doshi said.
The unseasonably warm weather has also generated some confusion, especially among older adults, who associate allergies with one season but are now experiencing them throughout multiple seasons.
Tam Perry, a social work professor at Wayne State University, did a study on older adults experiences with the changing environment and she found that older adults in Detroit talked about seasonal confusion. Respondents said they used to get allergies only in the spring. Now they're having to deal with allergies in multiple seasons, she added.
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