Atlanta’s pollen count spiked this week, but last week’s cool snap and lower pollen levels will play their share in bringing misery to those with allergies.
Dr. Stanley Fineman of Atlanta Allergy and Asthma said up-and-down pollen levels can lead to a condition called priming, where the body basically is primed for an allergy attack. When the levels go back up, the attack hits, and it usually is a more severe attack. Pollen counts began to climb earlier this year than in the past, but, until this week, March’s counts were lower than a year ago. On Tuesday, the count spiked to 1,549, with most of that from trees. And trees, according to Fineman, are the worst for allergy sufferers.
“Right now, people are complaining about tree pollen allergies,” he said. “Hardwoods are most of the problem, Pine will be coming up in the next week.” Tree pollens usually are not an issue until around the first of April, but Georgia’s overall warm winter has trees putting on leaves ahead of schedule. “It is earlier than normal, no question about it,” Fineman said. “It started in February this year.”
Fineman said there is no way to predict how high the pollen count will go, but pollen during a Georgia spring is pretty much a given. His practice released a statement Tuesday saying the number of patients reporting symptoms was following the pollen count up.
“Patients are reporting that their symptoms of nasal congestion, sneezing, itchy nose and eyes are a real problem this week,” the clinic said. “The ‘priming’ effect — high pollen exposure in February, followed by very low counts in early March, and now high counts returning — may be causing more problems for allergy patients this year.”
