The national aerobiological surveillance network (RNSA) indicates that the risk of allergy to grass pollens is high in a large majority of the country. How to protect yourself effectively?
After the allergies to birch pollens, it’s time for grass pollens. According to national aerobiological surveillance network (RNSA), the risk of allergy to grass pollen is high everywhere in France, except in Brittany, in the North and around the Mediterranean where the risk is average.
“Oaks are finishing their pollination all over the country”, but still have “a risk of medium level around the Mediterranean and low elsewhere”, indicates the RNSA. Plantain and sorrel pollens are present in small quantities and their allergy will be low. “Around the Mediterranean, other pollens are on the increase with a low to locally medium risk of allergy, these are olive trees and urticaceae (parietaria)”.
The risk of#allergies will remain high over most of the country next week, due to a high concentration of #pollens of grasses. Consult the complete bulletin on the RNSA website >> https://t.co/UQdSUITArS pic.twitter.com/MWya27HVJB
– Cities weather (@Meteovilles) May 20, 2018
Not all pollens are allergenic
Grasses are a family of monocotyledonous plants of the order Poales, which includes about 12,000 species grouped into 780 genera, with a cosmopolitan distribution. It is, by the number of species, the fifth family of flowering plants, after the Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Fabaceae and Rubiaceae. Most of the species commonly known as “herbs” and cereals are found there. It is found in the meadows, in the forest or by the roadside.
Buthe pollens are not all allergenic, specifies the RNSA. To cause allergy symptoms, it is essential that the pollen grains reach the respiratory mucous membranes. “Only anemophilous plants disseminate pollen grains by the wind; while entomophilous plants require the intervention of an insect to ensure their fertilization by transferring the pollen from the original male flower to the recipient female flower”. Pollens from pinaceae (pine, fir, spruce), which are very present in the air, are for example not allergenic, according to the RNSA. “The white flakes which are visible in the air and which sometimes line lawns, like a first snowfall, come from poplars and willows but are not pollens, do not have an allergenic character, but can have a irritant “.
Allergics should nevertheless remain very vigilant and consult their doctor or an allergist in the event of symptoms. “For those who do not experience it, an allergy seems harmless. It rarely is. It can lead to fevers at 38 ° C, wheezing, great fatigue. Not to mention that an underlying asthma can be hidden. under rhinitis and declare itself at any age “, notes Doctor Jean-François Fontaine, allergist in Reims (Marne), president of the Association for continuing education in allergology (Anaforcal).
How to protect yourself effectively?
Between 20 and 40% of French people suffer from pollen allergies. If you are allergic, there are a few things you can do to help. The key is to limit contact with the outside when the risk is high: avoid walks in the forest or in the fields. If you are driving by car, keep the windows closed.
The National Aerobiological Surveillance Network (RNSA) also recommends rinsing your hair in the evening (otherwise the pollens are deposited on the pillowcase and maintain the irritation, note), to promote the opening of the windows before getting up and after sunset (pollens are more present during the day, editor’s note), to avoid drying the laundry outside and to follow its treatment. Change regularly if you can, pollens tend to stick to clothes.
There are also many apps that allow you to measure the pollination rate in your area. The RNSA informs “that the data used are not the same for all” and recognizes the forecasts of the applications “Pollen alerts”, “I-pollen”, “ALlergiK”, “Assitant Air”, “Dermocontrol”, “Capt’air Bretagne “as well as those of the various ATMOs. “The other applications only use modeled data.”
Protect your airways from pollution
Numerous studies highlight the deleterious effectsThe effects of pollution and automobile traffic on respiratory health, especially that of children, with the percentages of asthma and pollen allergy rising from 20 to 30%. An international team of researchers has demonstrated the impact of air pollution linked to automobile traffic on childhood asthma.
Their work published on March 27 in the journal Environment International show that up to 38% of all annual asthma cases in children in Bradford can be attributed to air pollution. Air pollution linked to automobile traffic is estimated at 12% of all cases of childhood asthma recorded. In question: the high levels of nitrogen dioxide. This air pollutant produced by road traffic is indeed known to cause irritation of the respiratory system and significantly exacerbate existing respiratory problems in subjects.
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