【Comic science】And spring together, there are "allergens"

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The spring breeze blew the allergens

Along with the spring breeze, it is not only "grass green willow yellow, peach blossoms and plum flowers", but also intolerable "allergens".

Many people almost experience a "small cold" every spring - sneezing, nasal congestion, and can't help but burst into tears. The "spring limited cold" may actually be a pollen allergy, and the cold virus carries a black pot for the pollen.

Some people may wonder: there are no flowers at home, and they rarely go to places where flowers and grasses are grown on weekdays, how can they be allergic to pollen?

"Life Times" (search for "LT0385" in WeChat to follow) takes you to see the true face of pollen as an allergen.

Audit specialists

Kong Rui, attending physician of the Department of Rheumatology, Immunology-Allergy, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University

Editor of this issue 丨 Xu Wenting

Drawing 丨 Zhang Ye

How did the sneezing come about?

Mucus (i.e., snot) gushes out of the nasal cavity at all times, and most of it is sent deep into the nose with ciliary movement, enters the stomach through the throat, and secretes a small part to the nasal cavity.

Snot can not only "humidify" the nasal cavity and the inhaled air, but also when there is dust and microorganisms mixed in the air and enter the nasal cavity, the snot will immediately bind these "outliers".

When there are too many pathogenic microorganisms, the nasal mucosa realizes that there is danger, and it will gradually become congested, secreting more snot, which is used to trap the enemy. The nasal nerves also sounded the alarm and began to charge, preparing to "fire" the snot wrapped around the enemy into the body through sneezing.

Pollen increases the "workload" of the nasal cavity

Spring has arrived, and in addition to dust and germs, there are also a large number of pollen particles mixed in the air. The sudden "workload" made the entire nasal cavity chaotic.

Pollen particles are small in size, light in weight and numerous, and can float in large quantities in the air, invisible to the naked eye, and have a wide range of influences. When it comes to "pollen", many people take it for granted that it comes from flowers, but in fact, the culprit of pollen allergy clinically is often trees or weeds.

In the spring, poplars, willows, birch trees, cypress and other trees began to pollinate, the wind blows, pollen can spread far, even if there is no flowers and trees around, the concentration of pollen in the air may also be very high, especially in the northern spring, dry and dry, the wind is fierce, pollen is more likely to fly in the sky.

The typical symptoms of pollen allergy include, in addition to sneezing, runny nose and tears, but also itchy nose, eyes and ears, cough, chest tightness, and breath holding.

These symptoms are very similar to colds, and coupled with the fact that spring is the season of high incidence of colds and flus, people often confuse the two.

Your cold may be an allergy disguise

Pollen allergies are fundamentally different from colds and flu:

Colds and flu are caused by pathogen infection, are contagious, the course of the disease generally does not exceed 2 weeks, and influenza is often accompanied by systemic symptoms such as weakness and muscle soreness.

Pollen allergies are not contagious, have obvious seasonality, and may be allergic if there are only local symptoms and recur in the same season, or if the "cold" is not cured for a long time.

Pollen allergy is actually the immune system mistakenly treating pollen as a foreign invader, which in turn produces a series of reactions.

Susceptible to allergies of the immune system is usually defective, easy to "do not distinguish between friends and foe, gratuitous attack", when inhaled a certain pollen, the body will produce specific antibodies against the pollen, once the body accumulated a lot of antibodies, again contact with the same pollen, antibodies will be combined with this type of pollen, allergy symptoms.

If the pollen particles are small enough, they may also be inhaled into the lower airway, which can trigger asthma and so on. Many people do not take the early symptoms of allergies seriously, which may cause damage to mucous membranes, skin and physical organs in the long run, and serious life-threatening.

- Ends -

The most direct way to alleviate allergy symptoms is to avoid contact with allergens.

The conditions where pollen is easy to fly away are "sunny days with high temperatures", "dry air, strong wind", etc., these moments should be reduced, and you have to pay attention to not staying outdoors for a long time, and wear masks and anti-pollen glasses. When you go home, wash your nose, change your clothes, take a shower, etc.

Those who have the conditions can also install fresh air systems or use air purifiers. Once allergy symptoms are found, it is necessary to seek medical treatment in time and treat it under the guidance of a professional doctor, and do not take medication on your own. ▲

Editor: Wang Xiaoqing