The Pain of Pollen- Advice from an Allergist

Allergies can be miserable, and like other threats in the air, can often be invisible but cause a great deal of misery! For this episode, Dr Sharmilee Nyenhuis from the University of Chicago teaches us about pollen, how it affects us, and how it is changing. Listen and learn! 

• Know your own allergies, and make a plan for that pollen season- avoiding peak pollen times outdoors, rinsing pollen off your face and maybe your sinuses when you come indoors, keeping windows closed and more

• Check out the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America Home Checklist for Allergies

• Find a pollen counter that actually counts pollen in real time, not based on historic controls. With climate change, history doesn’t predict what may be going on outdoors

• The time is always right to run a HEPA filter- if it’s not sweeping the pollen from your air, it will be cleaning out pollution or catching viruses. 

• Share this episode with a friend who suffers from allergies.

• For more on the interaction of climate change and plant biology, listen to the “Science over Politics” episode from Season One. 

• Consider a donation to the American Lung Association, who works hard to help those with asthma and allergies breathe better

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For more information go to airhealthourhealth.org.

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Pollen image by Alex Jones on Unsplash