Achoo!The sky is blue, the grass is green, and everywhere, there are wildflowers in bloom. It’s spri

Achoo!The sky is blue, the grass is green, and everywhere, there are wildflowers in bloom. It’s springtime in the northern hemisphere and everywhere, people’s fancies turn to thoughts of—pollen.Hey! What?Yep. In the picture, that tree is not on fire. That is a cloud of pollen being released. Here in Austin, Texas, the period of time from mid-December to early March is known as “cedar fever season”. I’m one of the fortunate few who don’t suffer from cedar allergies, but I try not to be too smug about it. People have been known to live in the area for 15-20 years without symptoms before suddenly succumbing.No. Winter holds few allergy problems for me thus far.Having said that, in this part of the world, we’ve started referring to this as “the year without a winter,” (here in Austin, Texas, we only had two days where it got as low as 32-33° F). Because of the exceptionally warm winter, plants began to bloom early and profusely. Thick yellow oak pollen coats pretty much every outdoor surface, leaving my red car a dull orange. The main culprits guilty of causing seasonal allergies are tree pollens, weed pollens, and grass pollens, most of which spread their sperm far and wide via the wind. Combine the early bloom with the temperature swinging up and down with many dry, windy days this spring and people’s immune systems are on high alert, making them more sensitive to the invasion of the pollens triggering seasonal allergies. The result: watery, itchy eyes, running noses, sneezing, wheezing, and congestion. For some of us it means not wanting to move your head in any direction because of sinus headaches.Fun.Why do we suffer like this? Although there is disagreement (as there is with almost every scientific theory) some scientists maintain that allergies may provide something of an evolutionary advantage for mankind as a whole.You may have heard stories of people who protected themselves from poison by ingesting small amounts every day. If you’ve ever had allergy shots, then you’ve been doing something of the same thing. Each small amount of allergen allows your body to gradually build up immunity specific to that substance so that someday, your body will not feel the need to hit you with a histamine response. Some folks take a spoonful of locally produced honey each day for the same reason. However, plants with bright flowers that attract bees do not usually trigger allergic rhinitis (inflammation of the nasal passages).So what does that have to do with evolution? The thoughts behind this are that allergies are evolution’s way of either getting humans to avoid the substances that trigger those responses, or ramping up the body’s defenses to help people survive exposure to those substances in the future. There are exceptions, of course, among those who suffer from the severe, life-threatening allergic reactions referred to as anaphylaxis, which can cause airways to swell and close up and blood pressure to drop dramatically. It would seem that evolution is willing to sacrifice a few individuals in order to protect the whole species.CWImagehttps://pkwellness.com/fight-cedar-fever-naturally/Sourceshttp://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dear-evolution-thanks-for/https://weather.com/health/allergy/news/how-weather-impacts-spring-allergieshttp://www.webmd.com/allergies/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dear-evolution-thanks-for/http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150409-why-do-we-have-allergies -- source link

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