If symptoms are severe or unusually persistent, your doctor should probably test you to find out exactly what’s causing the trouble. The real culprit might not be ragweed at all, but another environmental allergen or even certain foods, such as chamomile and banana. Two allergy tests are widely used: A blood test checks for the […]
The pollen from ragweed causes allergy symptoms in many people. These symptoms include sneezing, runny or stuffy nose, and itchy throat. This is often called hay fever or by its medical term, seasonal allergic rhinitis. Reducing Ragweed Exposure Here’s a few simple precautions can dramatically reduce your pollen exposure: As much as possible, stay indoors when pollen […]
Fall is officially here, and so are fall allergies. Ragweed usually starts releasing its pollen in late August, but that pollen can linger into the late fall. According to the Centers for Disease Control, about three-quarters of people who are allergic to spring plants are allergic to ragweed. Plus, let’s not forget mold. Mold spores love wet […]
Even with summer over if you’re still sneezing odds are you’re among the 10% to 30% of Americans who suffer from hay fever, or allergic rhinitis. And most cases of hay fever are caused by an allergy to fall pollen from plants belonging to the genus Ambrosia — more commonly known as ragweed. Like all allergies, […]
Late summer and fall is the season for weed allergies, with pollen levels usually peaking in mid-September. Pollen counts for weeds are at their highest in the morning, usually between 5 and 10 a.m. Weed pollens are the most prolific allergens of all. A single ragweed plant, for instance, can produce a billion pollen grains […]
The pollen count tells us how many grains of plant pollen were in a certain amount of air (often one cubic meter) during a set period of time (usually 24 hours). Pollen is a very fine powder released by trees, weeds and grasses. It is carried to another plant of the same kind, to fertilize […]
Come late summer, some 10 to 20 percent of Americans begin to suffer from ragweed allergy, or hay fever. Sneezing, stuffy or runny nose, itchy eyes, nose and throat and trouble sleeping make life miserable for these people. Some of them also must deal with asthma attacks. All this misery can begin when ragweeds release […]
How Is It Diagnosed? To identify an allergy to ragweed or one of its relatives, requires a careful medical history, a physical exam and testing. The main approach to confirm a suspected allergy is the skin sensitivity test. For this, the skin is scratched or pricked with extract of ragweed pollen. In sensitive people, the […]