The Sonoma County allergy season can get worse.This is the reason

Chadflora, who lives in Santa Rosa, already needs tablets, inhalers and nasal drops to control seasonal allergies.

So when I was informed of something new research Linking climate change to a longer, substantially more severe pollen allergic season, his reaction was fairly predictable.

Flora, 51, said she was “terrible” while resting her car in the Bennett Valley Center parking lot this week.

Gretchen Arsenor responded similarly.

“Oh, I like it,” she said.

Both had relatively good humor about the news, even though they had a serious impact on people like themselves.

Like everyone else interviewed, they said they were beginning to experience allergic symptoms earlier each year than before.

“For the last few years, I’ve come to the point where I take Zyrtec every day, all year round,” said 47-year-old Arseno. It starts faster and faster. “

The new study was carried out by scientists at the University of Michigan and was published in the journal on Tuesday. “Nature Communications”. This reinforces early studies linking longer pollen seasons and higher pollen concentrations throughout North America to anthropogenic climate change from 1990 to 2018.

Based on the modeling of 15 pollens, changes in temperature, precipitation, and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere shift the pollen season up to 40 days in trees and 5 to 15 days in grass and ragweed by 2100. I concluded that it could be done.

Studies show that pollen levels are also expected to increase in the meantime, trebling in some species and in some areas at worst by the end of the century, especially when deciduous hardwoods and evergreen conifers are involved. There is a possibility of becoming.

The degree depends on the amount that humans can curb greenhouse gas production and delay global warming, the authors said.

“This is another unintended consequence of less-studied climate change, which has significant implications for human health,” Alison Steiner, one of the principal investigators, told NPR.

The big picture is complex, multifaceted, potentially dangerous, and likely to result in increased prevalence of allergic patients, said Kaiser Permanente’s Head of Allergy and Immunology at the Santa Rosa Medical Center. One Dr. Jumor Reed said.

In addition to longer pollen seasons and higher concentrations, pollutants in the air are thought to make pollen more allergenic and cause more serious symptoms, Reed said.

More people are more likely to be sensitive to allergens, he and others said. This is especially likely as climate change brings many people from developing countries to developed regions. Allergies are more common there, for reasons still being discussed.

Many people think of allergies as just a “purpose”, but as a result, many people who suffer from a runny nose also suffer from asthma, Reed said. Untreated asthma can cause COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A stuffy nose can cause obstructive sleep apnea and worsen blood pressure.

“As humans, we don’t link it to an increase in stroke or heart attack, so we need to think about all this and we’re just scratching the surface,” Reed said. ..

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as many as 60 million people in the United States suffer from allergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, with symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose, and stuffy nose. According to the CDC, about 70% of these people also have red, watery, and itchy allergic conjunctivitis.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, pollen-induced allergies and asthma-related medical costs already exceed $ 3 billion annually in the United States, almost half that of prescription drugs. Exposure to pollen can cause asthma attacks, constrict the airways, and in the worst case require hospitalization, the CDC said.

Dr. Maria Petrick of the Family Care Allergy & Asthma Center in Santa Rosa recommends that children be particularly vulnerable and receive injections to avoid the worst symptoms of severe allergies.

Work productivity and attendance at school can also suffer.

“Sometimes I’m taking a shower, but I’m still feeling sick and I’m just lying down,” said Jennifer Eversall, 34, who went shopping with one of her five kids earlier this week. ) Said. She is a person who suffers from allergies like her.

Petrick said her office has been observing that “for quite some time” the patient’s allergic reaction is longer and higher.

And while most people associate pollen with flowering plants, in reality, non-flowering trees and plants that do not rely on insect pollinators and instead need wind to disperse pollen. The worst trigger. In California, grass and oak trees are a particularly common trigger, Reed said.

“There is currently no downtime,” said John Petrick, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Practice Operations at FamilyCare.

December, January and February were late times for allergy treatment. “Now it doesn’t seem to be the case anymore,” he said.

“Unless things change dramatically, we’ll get more people more ill because of a much more tense healthcare system allergy,” Reed said.

You can contact the staff writer Mary Callahan (707-521-5249 or [email protected]). @MaryCallahanB on Twitter.