Climate factors causing allergy seasons to come earlier and last longer, experts say

It doesn’t take a long trip outside to find someone blowing their nose or stuck in a terrible sneezing fit, and for some of them, it’s the first time they’ve ever dealt with such a thing.

People experiencing allergies for the first time, even as an adult, is becoming more common, “This occurs because our immune system changes over time, and we can become more sensitive to allergens,” said Dr. Hetal Amin from Morris Hospital, a board certified allergist.

 “Other factors such as exposure to new geographic areas and environments, spending more time indoors after several years, hormonal and physiological changes, and genetic factors such as family history of allergies can all play a role in developing new onset allergiesm,” she said.

Amin said her office has seen an increase in patients due to people having more symptoms that are lasting for a longer period of time. She said this is due to climate change and frequent fluctuations in weather that affect temperatures and barometric pressure.

The changing weather patterns and warmer temperatures have caused pollen season to start earlier and last longer, she said.

Dr. Jeff Weishaar with Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox said he’s not sure if more people are suffering from allergies, or if they’re more aware that the symptoms they’re facing are allergies thanks to greater awareness and information available on social media.

What he does know is that more people are taking action about their allergies.

Weishaar is an otalaryngologist, or an ear, nose and throat doctor, so he deals with patients who are facing ear, nose and throat problems. He’s not a general allergist, so his experiences relate to runny nose, congestion and post nasal drip and other symptoms like chronic throat clearing and upper respiratory infections.

We’re having a long period of time that is ideal for many types of plants to produce pollen. It’s increasing the concentration of those allergens, but also increasing the length of time that people are exposed to those allergens.”

—  Trent Ford, Illinois State Climatologist

“The ear, nose and throat manifestations of allergies come to us, and those are the ones that are, though not life-threatening, tend to be very, very annoying for people,” Weishaar said.

How crops impacts allergies

Trent Ford, the Illinois State Climatologist, said warmer winters and springs have made plants shift their phenology to produce pollen over a longer period of time.

“In a place like Illinois, our winter temperatures are warming at a far faster rate than all the other seasons,” Ford said. “What that means is, spring is getting warmer, but it’s getting warmer at a slower rate than winter. We’re having a long period of time that is ideal for many types of plants to produce pollen. It’s increasing the concentration of those allergens, but also increasing the length of time that people are exposed to those allergens.”

Ford said this could be helped a bit by farmers switching to a longer-maturing corn, which would typically produce more as far as yield, but he hasn’t seen that happen in many places in Illinois yet. The farmers have their reasons for not following that train of thought.

“What we’re seeing is some farmers have switched to longer maturity corn and most have stuck with the shorter maturing corn, but are planting earlier in an attempt to avoid critical crop stages during that time in late July, early August when we tend to be dry and very hot, which can be damaging to the corn,” Ford said.

 “We’re having a little bit more diversity in how that corn is putting out pollen, which is adding to the kind of longer overall pollen season,” he said.

“It’s a quality of life thing. It’s not going to kill you. It’s not life threatening, but most patients hit a point where they say ‘I’m having symptoms and this bothers me.’ ”

—  Dr. Jeff Weishaar, Silver Cross Hospital

Ford said it’s also one of the few times of year when Midwesterners can leave their windows open and turn off both the heat and air conditioning. People are exposed to more pollen, and they’re outside more because the weather is nice.

More days of extreme heat in Illinois summers can aggravate other allergy-related symptoms. The body’s reaction to allergies includes things like inflammation, which Ford said can be stressful for people with underlying cardiovascular, pulmonary respiratory issues like asthma, emphysema, heart disease and diabetes, and the high pollen in the spring can create a bad combination.

“It’s not just annoying,” Ford said. “For some folks who don’t have those underlying health conditions, they can stay inside when they need to and take precautions, afford their medication.”

Ford said the danger is for people with chronic illnesses, like diabetes, for whom allergies can be a more serious health issue.

How to ease allergy aggravations

There are ways to prevent allergies from being as much of a nuisance, however. It’s important to keep track of pollen counts and adjust schedules accordingly, Amin said.

Those with allergies should spend as much time indoors as possible on warm, windy days, and those who have to go outside can limit their suffering by wearing a mask.

Weishaar said allergies for most people come down to what they can tolerate.

“It’s a quality of life thing,” Weishaar said. “It’s not going to kill you. It’s not life threatening, but most patients hit a point where they say ‘I’m having symptoms and this bothers me.’ Their first step is to figure out their issues, ponder how much they really bother them, and decide what they want to do about them.”

Amin offered a few solutions for people looking to take action. Being inside with air conditioning can make a difference for allergy sufferers, and an air purifier with HEPA filters in the house can limit exposure, she said.

Amin also recommended washing pets often and using over-the-counter medications like antihistamines, nasal sprays and allergy eye drops.

Weishaar said he’s been testing more and more patients to qualify and quantify what people’s allergies really are, and it helps guide therapy options. There’s the aforementioned over the counter medications, but there’s also what he called sublingual immunotherapy, which is done by a drop of medication under the tongue.

He said the tongue drops are much better for pediatric patients, and they offer a solution for college-aged students who are moving away either for school or otherwise because they can take the tongue drops with them.

Ford also offered some broader, longterm solutions.

“We talk about the problems of allergies and climate change, it could be worth it to mention solutions,” Ford said.

“Climate change is related to global warming, which is caused by burning of fossil fuels over the last 150 years or so. So, reducing and eliminating carbon dioxide emissions and reducing our reliance on fossil fuels is a key need,” he said.