It comes around like clockwork, and it’s here again this spring – the nine-month allergy season that doesn’t end until Nov. 30.
There’s no shortage of flora that can bring watery eyes, runny noses, sneezing, coughing or wheezing to people whose age ranges from infancy to infirmity.
Cedar, juniper, cottonwoods, aspen and Chinese elm start the show in March, followed by the grasses from May through July and finally the weeds from August through November.
Dr. Gregory Schackel at Southwestern Colorado Ear, Nose & Throat Associates, said it’s hard to say how severe the allergy season will be.
“It’s hard to predict how it will go,” Schackel said. “A warmer winter and a breezy spring could be a set-up for juniper pollen.”
Juniper pollen rides southwest winds from the Farmington area to assault Southwest Colorado, Schackel said.
Allergist Dr. Donald Cooke of Allergy & Asthma Specialists agrees.
“It’s hard to tell how the allergy season is shaping up,” Cooke said. “So far, the pollen counts aren’t high.”
Cooke measures pollens at his home in north Durango. A Rotorod Sampler with rotating blades about 1½ inches long collects whatever is in the air. Cooke examines the rods under a microscope and counts the grains of pollen.
A formula converts rod count to air saturation, which is gauged by the number of grains in a cubic meter of air. Counts are higher in hot, dry, windy weather and lower if it’s cold and damp.
Beth Glotfelty, a physician’s assistant at Durango Urgent Care, knows there’s something afoot.
Glotfelty saw the usual 20 patients Tuesday, but what was unusual was that 75 percent of them complained of upper respiratory ailments.
“It’s both pollen and dust, I think,” Glotfelty said. “I noted it, too, last week with the wind, and then it picked up over the weekend and into today.
“We haven’t seen that much flu,” Glotfelty said. “The cases are more reaction to the environment.”
Glotfelty said she usually prescribes antihistamines and a normal saline nasal spray.
An allergy is an abnormal immune response to a foreign substance that normally is not dangerous. Allergens can cause reactions by being inhaled, swallowed or by coming in contact with the skin.
Pollens, along with cat and dog dander, dust mites and molds are inhalants. Inhaled allergens enter the respiratory tract and bind to an antibody attached to a cell. This causes the cell to excrete a chemical called histamine that causes the allergy symptoms.
The severity of an allergic response varies with age and genetics, Cooke said. Younger people generally get hit the hardest.
Methods of combatting allergies varies, Cooke said. The easiest is the use of antihistamines, which block the effects of the histamines that cause the allergy.
The Food and Drug Administration in February approved two new medications, including the first nonprescription steroid nasal spray.
Making the medications over-the-counter will give patients more choices, Schackel said.
“This is a big deal because it’s never happened before,” Schackel said. “People can now go directly to the pharmacy instead of getting a prescription from a doctor.”
Another line of attack involves steroids, given through either shots or pills, Cooke said. Steroids can cause side effects, and they tend to lose effectiveness over time, he said.
A last resort for some allergy sufferers is immunotherapy, which introduces the very allergen that causes problems into the body to build immunity. The allergen can be injected or given under the tongue.
The FDA recently authorized three new sublingual medications, two to combat grasses and the other for ragweed.
Some allergy sufferers prefer to skip the antihistamines and jump to steroids or immunotherapy, Cooke said.
daler@durangoherald.com
