Information on popular complementary and alternative medical topics

WHAT POLLENS CAUSE ALLERGIC PROBLEMS?

Pollens are produced in the UK from February to September. According to the area of the UK where you live, the season for each pollen will vary slightly, starting earlier in more southerly or warmer parts.

Grass pollens, with a season from May to late July or early August, are the most common cause of allergy. There are numerous species of grass which produce pollen in the UK, but only a dozen are known to be important allergens. There is a high degree of cross-reaction between grass pollens – if you react to one, you are prone to react to others.

Other pollens, such as tree, weed and crop pollens, also cause allergy, often at the same season as grass, as Diagram 8 shows. ‘Hay fever’, as a term used to describe the symptoms of pollen allergy, can thus be a misnomer.

If you get allergic reactions in June and July, the cause can also be mould spores, not pollens at all. Mould spores are often produced in high concentrations in summer at the peak of the pollen season, and mould allergy often goes undiagnosed, or diagnosed as pollen allergy.

Pollens from wind-pollinated plants and trees cause most problems with allergy. In order to reproduce, wind-pollinated species have to produce very large quantities of pollen. The grains can, in the right conditions, be carried long distances in concentrations. This is one of the reasons why people who live in cities can suffer from allergy caused by pollens brought into the city by the wind.

Insect-pollinated plants and trees, by contrast, do not have to discharge large amounts of pollen. Their pollens are only found in a localised area around them, not borne in the atmosphere. Most people do not develop allergies to insect-pollinated species and if you do, you are only likely to react if you are very close to the source of the pollen. Most garden plants, garden flowers, daisies and cut flowers are insect-pollinated, as are many fruit trees, and weeds such as dandelion, cow parsley and rosebay willow herb. These will not affect the majority of people. Some trees are pollinated by both insect and wind; details of these are given in Diagram 9.

Pollens from pine trees appear not to cause allergic reactions in the UK. It is thought that the pollens are very inert and do not trigger the immune system. Studies in Scandinavia, however, have shown evidence of allergy to pine pollens.

Oilseed rape, a relatively recent crop in the UK, is an insect-pollinated plant but, despite this, reports of allergy are increasing in localised areas where it is produced, or, for instance, from people who have driven through areas of crop fields of oilseed rape.

*192\117\8*

RelatedPosts:

• COPING WITH THE MODERN ENVIRONMENT: THE ECOLOGY UNIT IN THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF ALLERGIES
• OTHER FORMS OF FOOD ALLERGY: LECTINS
• ALLERGY\MEDICAL HELP: DENTAL TREATMENT
• WATER TREATMENTS METHODS: DISTILLATION
• ALLERGY AND VACUUM CLEANER: WHAT TO CHOOSE
• ALLERGY TO CONTRACEPTION: ALLERGY CONDOM, WHICH HAS NO SPERMICIDE LUBRICANT
• ALLERGY TO FURNITURE: SOURCES OF SUPPLY
• FOOD SENSITIVITY: A TYPICAL ROTATION DIET
• WHAT CHEMICAL IS SENSITIVITY:LINKING WITH PERSONAL OR PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS
• ALLERGY TO CLOTHING: CHILDREN’S CLOTHES