Details on Pollen Allergies

Pollen allergy is a type of seasonal allergic rhinitis caused by pollen grains, the pollen allergy symptom is caused when allergy pollen grains enter the noses and throats of humans, pollen allergy is also more commonly known as hay fever or rose fever.

Not all pollens are allergenic; some people may be allergic to specific pollen whereas some people may be allergic to another pollen. As pollen allergy is related to pollens, the allergy type depends on upon the season rather than the pollen (summer, fall or spring). According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, it is reported that pollen allergy affects nearly about 1 out of 10 Americans.

What Are Pollens?

Pollens are usually small, sometimes microscopic, round or oval particles that are produced by plants during the process of reproduction and, these are instrumental in getting the egg fertilized. Hundreds and thousands of pollens are produced by plants for process of fertilization, but only few are successful in the fertilization process. Moreover the plants that produce these allergenic pollens do not bear attractive or showy flowers. These pollens that inflict allergy are produced mainly by plants that are plain looking and/or having very small or minute structured pollens which enables them to get transported by wind. As a canon, the concentrations of pollen are low in the coastal areas when compared with grasslands.

Complications Related To Pollen Allergy

Pollen allergy paves way to many other severe respiratory problems that include asthma, bronchial disorders, allergic rhinitis and so on. The most common complication of pollen allergy is hay fever. It affects early teens and starts with sneezing for few weeks, to severe rhino conjunctivitis, asthma, and facial eczema. There is a recent finding that children with grass pollen allergy are also prone to develop asthma. The affected persons are also prone to get irritated by small tiny particles and dust mites that can cause more allergies.

Types of Pollen Allergy?

The main culprit for can be attributed towards Ragweed allergies, a weed species, it is reported that the pollens from this plant alone cause majority of pollen allergy cases in America. Allergies due to pollens are classified based on the source of pollen, and are of three main types, namely,

Tree pollen allergies
These type of pollen allergies arise from pollens emanating from trees like birch, oak, ash, elm, hickory, pecan, and box elder
Weed pollen allergies
These include pollen from small weeds, some of which include ragweed, sagebrush, redroot pigweed, Lamb's quarters, Russian thistle, and English plantain allergies;
Grass pollen allergies
Here the allergy is caused by pollens released by grasses such as Timothy grass, Kentucky bluegrass, Red top grass, Orchard grass, Johnson grass, etc.

Other pollen allergy types include birch pollen allergy that may be responsible for a multitude of skin problems, and also bee pollen allergy. This bee pollen allergy (plant pollens collected by worker bees combined with plant nectar and bee saliva for drone bees) allergy, and pollen food allergy.

Continue to: Symptoms

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