AHCHOO! Every year, many of us deal with spring allergies. Why and how do these allergies occur? #STEMvee
[Video Description: Alicia, an Asian woman with straight brown hair, is sitting on a white chair and wearing a fuchsia blouse with a black cardigan in front of a gray background.]
Transcript: Ahchoo! Ugh my head. Sore throat…it must be spring. Do you ever look outside the window and see grass growing, trees growing new leaves, and flowers blooming? Winter is turning into spring. But for a lot of us, it means allergies..ughhh allergies. Our immune system works like a security camera recognizing a thief, anything that doesn’t belong is removed. These include microbes and foreign particles…such as dust, mold, and pollen. Pollen! Of course, in the spring when everything is blooming, the plants surrounding us are trying to reproduce. They release pollen in hopes of creating a seed. The pollen grains are inhaled and or swallowed causing our immune system to overreact. Instead of a small response, our bodies produce a large response. This leads to sneezing, coughing, a runny or stuffy nose, headaches, itchy eyes/mouth, and sore throats. Deep in the body, you are producing antibodies that will bind to the pollen allergens. These antibodies are involved in the release of a protein called histamine. Histamine is the reason why you develop all these symptoms…sneezing, stuffy nose, and itchiness. This is why we take over the counter antihistamines such as flonase, claritin, and zyrtec! Maybe you’ve also noticed that some people get allergies and others don’t. Or maybe one year you get allergies, but the next year you don’t. What’s happening here? Well everyone’s individual immune system will respond differently and there are many different types of allergens out there..such as many different grass, tree, and flower pollen. Maybe last year you didn’t have allergies, but now you do or you have allergies for years and then one year it stops. Scientists are still trying to figure out the answer for all these variations. The reason for allergies comes from many different factors such as your genetics, if your parents had allergies and your environment. One interesting thing is that the incidence of seasonal allergies will go up with climate change. As it becomes warmer, pollen season will last longer which means more pollen in the air. So many sure you keep doing your part to reduce your carbon footprint and maybe you’ll sneeze less!
