{"id":8803,"date":"2021-04-16T15:16:32","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T22:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/?p=8803"},"modified":"2021-04-16T15:16:34","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T22:16:34","slug":"is-climate-change-making-your-allergies-worse-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/is-climate-change-making-your-allergies-worse-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Climate Change Making Your Allergies Worse?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We are now well into the spring allergy season here in Oregon. If you feel like each year is worse than the last, you\u2019re not alone. According to new research, climate change may be <a href=\"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/allergy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">making seasonal allergies worse<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is Hay Fever?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pollen-plants-allergy-testing-1280x720.jpg\" alt=\"Pollen and plants outside.\" class=\"wp-image-8805\" width=\"361\" height=\"202\" srcset=\"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pollen-plants-allergy-testing-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/entsalem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pollen-plants-allergy-testing-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/entsalem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pollen-plants-allergy-testing.jpg 1489w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 361px) 100vw, 361px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/fastats\/allergies.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">20 million Americans have been diagnosed with seasonal allergies<\/a>. Known as hay fever and allergic rhinitis, this condition can cause <a href=\"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/allergy\/allergies\/allergy-symptoms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cold-like symptoms<\/a>, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Runny nose.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Nasal congestion.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Red, watery eyes.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Sneezing.<\/li><li>Cough.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Itchy nose, throat and roof of the mouth.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Postnasal drip.<\/li><li>Fatigue.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The common causes of hay fever are pollen from trees, grasses and ragweed. Dust mites and spores from fungi and mold can also cause these symptoms.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Determining the cause of your symptoms through a series of allergy tests is important, as your doctor will use the results of these tests to put together a comprehensive treatment plan.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to medication and immunotherapy, avoidance is an easy way to prevent symptoms. This includes staying inside on days with high pollen counts and wearing a mask when taking a walk through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cityofsalem.net\/Pages\/minto-brown-island-park.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Minto-Brown Island Park<\/a> or other outdoor areas with a lot of grass or trees.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Review of Pollen Counts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The study, published in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/118\/7\/e2013284118\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">February 2021 issue of <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em>looked at pollen metrics from 60 monitoring stations across North America between 1990 and 2018. Researchers found that pollen seasons are now beginning 20 days earlier and lasting for up to eight days longer than before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The researchers also determined that the concentration of pollen has risen by 20.9% between 1990 to 2018.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The largest increases were determined to be in Texas and the midwestern United States. While the reasoning is unknown, the researchers suspect it has to do with the specific plants that are grown in these regions being more sensitive to warming and producing more pollen.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Impact of Climate Change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to measuring the increase in pollen counts, the researchers were interested in determining the driving force behind the changes. They looked at the impact of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Temperature changes.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Rainfall.<\/li><li>Frost days.<\/li><li>Carbon dioxide concentrations.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Their research found that an increase in the average annual temperature was the stronger factor behind the pollen changes.\u00a0 To learn more about how to prepare this pollen season or to schedule an appointment with an allergy expert, contact Willamette Ear, Nose, Throat &amp; Facial Plastic Surgery today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learn More About Allergies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/the-creation-of-allergy-free-wheat-and-peanuts\/\">The Creation of Allergy-Free Wheat and Peanuts<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/covid-19-vaccine-and-allergy-immunotherapy-what-to-keep-in-mind\/\">COVID-19 Vaccine and Allergy Immunotherapy: What to Keep in Mind<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/whats-causing-your-winter-allergies\/\">What\u2019s Causing Your Winter Allergies?<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are now well into the spring allergy season here in Oregon. If you feel like each year is worse than the last, you\u2019re not alone. According to new research, climate change may be making seasonal allergies worse.\u00a0 What Is Hay Fever? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 20 million Americans&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8805,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"We are now well into the spring allergy season here in Oregon. If you feel like each year is worse than the last, you\u2019re not alone.","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8803"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}