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Spring allergies, nothing to sneeze at
By David Curran
news@barnstablepatnot.com
Trees are budding and be-
fore you know it, the lawn
will need mowing. Have you
started sneezing yet?
If you have spring allergies,
you've probably learned to
welcome the return of warmth
and color with ambivalence
rather than the unbridled en-
thusiasm you'd like to feel.
It doesn't have to be that
way, according to Dr. Paul
Sklarew, a Yarmouth aller-
gist affiliated with Cape Cod
Healthcare.
"As an allergist , I tell all of
my patients that have spring
allergies (they should) be able
to have enough control of their
allergies so that it doesn't af-
fect their enjoyment of work
or play," he said.
With available treatments,
he said, 95 percent of suffer-
ers should be able to get relief
from the sneezing, itchy runny
nose, itchy, red , watery eyes
and sinus congestion of aller-
gic rhinitis. (If your symptoms
descend from your sinuses
into your throat and chest ,
with coughing and wheez-
ing, that's seasonal asthma,
he said. It's often related to
rhinitis, but requires different
treatment.)
"If you think that your aller-
gies are interfering with your
enjoyment of the springtime,
it'stime to see an allergist,"Dr.
Sklarew said, explaining that
ifyour symptoms have already
started , you're probably al-
lergic to one or another tree
pollen, the first major spring
allergen to appear.
"When the tree pollen sea-
son starts is not exactly cer-
tain,"Dr. Sklarew said. "I usu-
ally start seeing people with
tree pollen allergies around
tax time."
Based on the experiences of
the Visiting Nurse Association
of Cape Cod in Hyannis, the
season seems to be running a
bit late this year. Jeanne Sar-
nosky, Director of Marketing ,
Providers and Community Re -
lations , said the association ,
which serves more than 1,000
homebound clients -who are
just as susceptible to spring
allergies as people who are out
and about -had heard few al-
lergy complaints asApril drew
to a close.
"We aren't seeing anything
different or strange in any
of the allergies that are out
there ," Sarnosky said.
Oak is by far the Cape 's
primary tree pollen allergen
on the Cape , said Sklarew.
Birch is also a culprit , as are.
to a lesser extent, hickory,
maple and elm. Grass pollens
typically enter the mixaround
mid-May.
Trees and grass both ex-
haust their pollen in about
six weeks. Their overlapping
seasons "usually makes the
last couple weeks of May and
the first couple weeks of June
the worst" for spring allergies,
he said.
Spring'sother important al-
lergen producer? Cleaning.
"Dust mite allergen is the
most important allergen on
Cape Cod and that's a year
round tiling,"Dr. Sklarewsaid.
"Youcan have a flare-up in the
spring just from cleaning."
So what to do? Cutting
your exposure can help. Dr.
Sklarew tells patients to close
their windows - house and
car - until the spring pollens
die down around July 1. He
advised that people wear a
dust mask and tak e a shower
before goingto bed.being sure
to rinse hair well.
He also advised treatment.
That used to mean sleep-in-
ducing antihistamines four
times a day, but non-sedating ,
long-acting antihistamines
have been around for a quar-
ter century and the first went
over-the-counter generic a
couple ofyears ago, somedica-
tion is easily available.
However , nasal cortico-
steroid sprays work better,
according to "every single
study,"Sklarew said.Antihis-
tamines block the action of
histamine,one of the dozens of
chemicals involved in allergic
reactions , but steroid sprays ,
available by prescription ,
block many.
"The problem isthat people
are just so used to taking
pills," he said, "and a lot of
people don't like squirting
things up their nose."
Immunotherapy - allergy
shots - is the other current
treatment , usually used if
neither antihistamines nor
steroid sprays do the job.
Less widely used since the
advent of the long acting,
non-sedating, it remains the
only therapy that suppresses
the allergic reaction itself, Dr.
Sklarew said.
Don't wait for symptoms to
begin treatment, he said.
"If you have bad allergies,
the best thing to do is to start
your allergy medicine "before
the time of year your symp-
toms usually start , he said.
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