Total Allergen Load and Ragweed Season

At AchooAllergy.com, we frequently discuss the concept of total allergen load. Basically, the theory suggests that once a certain threshold of allergen exposure and other factors is reached (and this is different for various individuals), symptoms appear. A recent article in Medical News Today confirms this theory.

The study, published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, talks about how hay fever during ragweed season is "more miserable for those with dog, cat, or dust mite allergies." This is because year-round allergies "pre-prime" the immune system to react during seasonal allergies. This causes symptoms to hit harder.

Researchers set out to discover why some people with hay fever react more than others when ragweed season begins. Lead author of the study, allergist Anne K. Ellis, MD explains, "People with hay fever react differently when ragweed allergy season arrives. Some start sneezing right away, and others don't, so we wanted to determine what makes certain people develop symptoms more quickly."

The outcome, fully in line with the idea of total allergen load, was, as Dr. Ellis put it: "On average, those who tested positive for cat, dog or dust mite allergies developed symptoms either faster than, or to a greater degree than those who tested negative for those allergies."

This underscores the need for environmental control measures when it comes to allergies and where our products can be most beneficial to allergy and asthma sufferers.