Cure your allergies

Spring is here. At last! While some of us are leaping through the dandelions with joy, for millions of Aussies, this season comes with a major buzzkill: allergies. And they’re only getting more severe. Studies have shown the incidence of seasonal allergies has doubled in the past 30 years. We give you four reasons why, plus ways to find some sweet relief.

ALLERGY SEASONS ARE LONGER

“Hay fever is typically caused by trees, grasses and weed pollens,” says allergy specialist and associate professor of clinical medicine at Griffith University, Dr Peter Smith.

And while pollination times vary depending on where you live, pollen seasons tend to last for several months. And thanks to global warming, pollination times for grasses, trees and weeds are lengthening. Brilliant.

Research conducted in Europe and the US has shown that pollen seasons have become progressively longer over the past 10 years; and experts say it could be happening here, too. Double brilliant.

“The fact is when you heat things up, you get more pollen released into the air and more allergic symptoms as a result,” says Dr Smith. And that trend is likely to continue.

POLLEN IS GROWING OUT OF CONTROL

In case you’ve erased Year 9 biology from your brain, here’s a recap: to grow, plants require sunlight, water, warmth and carbon dioxide. But these days they’re getting way more of those last two than they need.

“Ten years ago we thought, OK, more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere means more energy for plants, so they’ll grow better,” says Dr Paul Epstein, associate director of the Centre for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, US.

Weeds and other allergenic pollen-producing plants, however, aren’t merely flourishing; they’re reproducing like rabbits. And there’s not just extra pollen circulating around your schnoz – the CO² overload has also led to a kind of superpollen that’s more allergenic, so just a teeny amount can get your nose running.

OUR RESPONSE TO ALLERGENS IS MORE SEVERE

Pollution and smog add ozone and billions of diesel particles to the air, and pollen and pollution are not a good combo.

“Pollen grains hitch a ride on these particles, which carry them deeper into your lungs, where they can get lodged inside,” says Dr Epstein.

Not ideal. Adds Smith: “We know that allergens are up to 50 times more likely to generate an allergic response in the presence of pollution.

The diesel particles irritate the airways and when you add the allergens you are more likely to have an aggressive inflammatory response.”

MODERN LIFE

Luxurious bedding – like plush ensemble mattresses with pillow tops and mulberry silk-filled doonas – collect more dust than the basic beds our mums slept in.

“Even the fact that we tend to be out working all day means our double-glazed house with concrete slab floors stays locked all day and is the perfect incubator for house-dust mites – one of the most common causes of allergies,” says Dr Smith.

Plus, we’re too obsessed with being clean – a 2007 study published in Trends in Immunology found that scrubbing with harsh soaps and other products can strip away a layer of protective cells on your skin and actually allow allergens to penetrate.