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WASATCH FRONT -- Spring allergy season 2009 is shaping up to be worse than last year's along the Wasatch Front. Clinics are seeing more people complaining of allergy symptoms, and those who are suffering are suffering more than they did a year ago.
A quick glance outside tells you all you need to know. University of Utah allergist and dermatology professor Dr. Gerald Gleich says we've had a mild, wet spring, and that means all the trees and flowers are blooming, but so are the sniffles and sneezes.
"There's a lot of people who are suffering. Even one of my sons came into me the other day and says, ‘Where's my antihistamines?'" Gleich said.
He says pollen counts are extremely high right now for cedar, birch, maple and cottonwood, and they're even seeing ragweed and sycamore cause problems.
He says more foliage, more growth and more pollination are all the ingredients for more allergens in the air. Because we had a lot of moisture at the end of March, just as the temperatures started to warm up, that's produced a lot of blooming trees and flowers in April.
This weekend's not going to help a sufferer's cause, according to Gleich. "The growing things have been very favored by our climate, and of course we're supposed to have more rain this weekend, so that will even favor them more," he said.
If some of the older style antihistamines like Benadryl make you "benadrunk," he says newer versions like Allegra and Claritin can help without the knockout factor. That's because Benadryl and its cousins all cross into the central nervous system, but the newer antihistamines don't.
E-mail: bbruce@ksl.com
