In the autumn, the weather turns cool, and there are symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing, coughing, etc., are these all caused by colds? It may also be suffering from pollen allergy. Many people think that pollen allergies only occur in the spring, but this is not the case. Beijing reminds you that autumn is also the season of high incidence of pollen allergies. How to prevent pollen allergy? Come and hear what the doctor has to say.
Be especially wary of weed pollen in autumn
Pollen is the male cells of plants in nature, because of the different species, its size, shape, structure vary widely, most of them measured in microns.
Plant pollen is divided into wind pollen and insect pollen. Pollen from brightly colored flowers pollinated by insects is insect pollen, which is generally not sensitive. What is allergic is wind pollen, which can drift with the wind for several kilometers or even more than a dozen kilometers. Wind pollen is small, so small that it is invisible to the naked eye, very light, and the number is also large. As soon as the wind blows, the pollen floats in the air in large quantities, and it is easy to sensitize people after contact and inhalation.
There are three main types of pollen allergens: one is tree pollen in spring, one is grass pollen in spring and summer, and the other is weed pollen in autumn.
Pollen is a "regular" in the air. Spring tree pollen generally begins to drift from March and April, followed by grass pollen, autumn weed pollen generally appears in August and September, and pollen is still scattered in some areas even in November.
Common species are these
The most common autumn-sensitive weed pollen in China mainly comes from artemisia grass, ragweed and turnip grass, of which artemisia grass is mostly found in the northern region north of the Yellow River, and there are also in the southern region, but it is relatively small.
Ryansis (Lara): Wildly distributed. Flowering period is from July to September.
Mugwort, large seed artemisia, artemisia huanghua (artemisia annua, artemisia odoris): widely distributed throughout the country. Flowering period is from July to September.
Quinoa (gray cabbage): spread all over the country. Flowering period is from July to September.
Dimai: Spread all over the country. Flowering period is from July to August.
Amaranth: Originated in North America, it is now distributed in a wide area in northern China. Flowering period is from July to August.
Ragweed: Originated in North America, now distributed in a wide area of northern China. Flowering takes place from late July to early September.
How to tell the difference between pollen allergies and colds
Pollen allergies and colds do have similar symptoms, such as runny nose, sneezing, and nose blockage, but there are the following differences:
Pollen allergies are distinctly seasonal and recurrent throughout the year. In terms of duration, the shortest course of symptoms such as rhinitis caused by pollen allergy can last for 1 month; the general virus cold, as long as there are no complications, can be recovered in about a week.
The symptoms of pollen allergy are repeated, paroxysmal sneezing, a lot of watery nose, itchy nose, itchy eyes, nasal congestion, and so on.
Colds manifest as sneezing, runny nose (not a lot of clear watery nose), accompanied by sore throat, fever, fatigue, headache and other symptoms.
Why wasn't pollen allergic last year, but it was allergic this year? This is mainly related to the type of flower that comes into contact with it and the concentration of pollen in the air. Everyone's allergens are different, if you are allergic to pine trees, a certain year just happens to come into contact with pine plants, it will induce allergies. If you go to a place with a high pollen concentration, it can also trigger allergies.
Pollen allergy "can't afford to provoke, can afford to hide"
Although pollen is an unavoidable allergen, but take precautions can also reduce the chance of allergies, summer and autumn hay fever patients in the summer and autumn pollen season need to reduce going out, avoid going to the park, especially from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., pollen concentration is higher, going out is easy to cause allergies.
Pay attention to the monitoring and forecasting information of pollen transmission as you pay attention to the weather forecast, and wear a mask when the pollen spreads, preferably an N95 or KN95 mask, to block some pollen with smaller particles.
You can also wear anti-pollen glasses to avoid contact lenses. Conjunctivitis patients, wear goggles, general glasses do not work, glasses need to be sealed around the spectacles.
After going out home, pay attention to washing your nose, eyes, and face, take a bath and change your clothes stained with pollen, and avoid drying clothes outside of the house.
Pay attention to closing windows and use an air purifier or fresh air system to reduce indoor pollen concentration.
Patients with facial allergies can also apply a wet compress to the face with normal saline for 15 minutes, once in the morning and once in the evening.
How to treat long-term troubles
1. Control symptoms through medication
During the pollen season, medication is needed to control symptoms, the nasal cavity can be washed with seawater salt, and pollen blockers are used.
Nasal symptoms are controlled with nasal spray hormones or nasal antihistamines to keep the nasal cavity unobstructed to avoid other diseases such as sinusitis, secretory otitis media and other diseases caused by rhinitis.
Use anti-allergic eye drops to control symptoms such as itching and lacrimation of allergic conjunctivitis.
Patients with cough or asthma need to add oral or inhaled drugs to control symptoms and avoid acute or recurrent asthma attacks that affect lung function and even endanger life.
2. Desensitization treatment changes the natural course of allergies
Pollen allergy At present, in addition to preventing avoiding and reducing contact and symptomatic drug treatment, in fact, the most effective way is to find the allergen and carry out desensitization treatment, so it is recommended that patients who have been plagued by hay fever for a long time should seek medical treatment in time.
Desensitization therapy, also known as specific immunotherapy or allergen immunotherapy, is a treatment that alters the natural course of the disease through immunomodulatory mechanisms. The method is to give the patient a gradually increased dose of allergen extract (therapeutic vaccine) to induce immune tolerance in the body, so that the symptoms of the patient are significantly reduced when they are exposed to the corresponding allergen again, or even no clinical symptoms are produced.
Desensitization therapy is the only way it is possible to alter the natural course of allergic diseases through immune mechanisms. Compared with drug therapy, desensitization therapy has a long-term effect after cessation, preventing allergic rhinitis from developing into asthma and reducing the appearance of new allergens.
Reporter Zhao Xiaolu
Some of the pictures are according to Xinhua News Agency and People's Daily