NO RELIEF FOR ALLERGY SUFFERERS

While unseasonably cool temperatures have brought welcome relief from the normally hot, humid days of August, there apparently is no such relief in store for ragweed allergy sufferers.

Dr. Jean Chapman, a Cape Girardeau allergist, said ragweed came into full bloom last week nearly two weeks earlier than usual. The plant is responsible for nearly 90 percent of the pollen in the air during late August and September, Chapman said.

"You could say the ragweed allergy patient is caught up in the sex life of the ragweed plant," he said. "The pollen that causes all the trouble is released by the male ragweed plant as part of its natural reproductive life cycle."

Chapman said the ragweed count in the Cape Girardeau area is about 20-30 grains of pollen per cubic meter of air.

"That's still low, but for highly-sensitive people it will cause the usual allergy symptoms to appear," he said. "And keep in mind, the pollen count is taken on the rooftop at the university. At ground level, the count will be even higher," he said.

Those who are sensitive to ragweed pollen often suffer from allergies when the pollen count is as low as 10-15. Allergy symptoms include sneezing fits, a "tickley" throat, cough, stuffy and runny nose, fatigue, and swollen, watery eyes.

"The peak season for ragweed pollen is always the first ten days of September," said Chapman. "Last year at this time, the ragweed count was 123 grains per cubic meter, which was the highest we've seen the past few years.

"The worst year for ragweed pollen was in 1988, with a count as high as 223 grains per cubic meter of air."

After peaking in early September, Chapman said the ragweed pollen count begins to decline the rest of the month. By the end of the month, the pollen count subsides for another year.

Chapman said there is hope of relief for ragweed allergy sufferers, if the weather cooperates.

"If we have a period of cool, wet weather during the peak of the ragweed season, it will decrease the amount of pollen in the air and give some relief to allergy sufferers," he said.

But even if the weather remains warm and dry during early September, Chapman said there still are measures that can ease allergy symptoms.

He suggested those allergic to ragweed avoid walks in the woods and fields where the pollen count is always higher than in town. They also should stay away from chrysanthemums, dahlias, daisies, zinnias, goldenrod and other ragweed relatives.

Chapman also said that on days when the pollen count is high, they should stay indoors in an air-conditioned room as much as possible. He said people with allergies should drink lots of cool, but not cold, liquids.

Allergists do not recommend using most of the over-the-counter allergy medicines to treat the symptoms because they can cause drowsiness. Because allergies also make a person feel drowsy, the problem is compounded, Chapman said.

Most of the 41 million Americans who have allergies are sensitive to things they can avoid, such as cat dander, chocolate, ripe tomatoes or horses.

But for 15 million Americans, the source of their allergy is in the air they breathe. They are allergic to one or more of the pollens from trees, shrubs, grass, weeds, flowers or spores from molds that live on dead and decaying organic material.

These people are victims of what is commonly called hay fever, which allergists say is neither a fever nor caused by hay.

Allergists can test allergy sufferers by injecting potentially irritating substances into the skin to see which causes a reaction. While it won't stop the allergy, the tests will determine what a person is allergic to and allow the doctor to prescribe the appropriate medication to relieve the symptoms.