WP: Washington DC Has One of the Highest Pollen Counts in the Nation

The Washington Post on April 6, 2010 published a story entitled "Tree pollen kicks off Washington's allergy season." The story goes through explaining that though Washington DC is ranked 43rd out of 100 most challenging places to live with allergies (see ranking here), Washington DC often has one of the highest pollen counts in the nation on any given day during the spring season!

In fact, according to a study in last month's Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology that tracked pollen counts in this area between 1998 and 2007, tree pollen amounted to 91.2 percent of the total annual pollen yield in the nation here.

What I typically suggest patients to do in such challenging allergy conditions is to try combo therapy... usually zyrtec in the morning and benadryl at bedtime. If necessary, add a 12 hour sudafed in the morning if the nose is runny. If these do not help, see your local doctor for consideration of adding a steroid nasal spray.

If worst comes to worst, getting tested for allergies and getting started on allergy shots or allergy drops would be most beneficial and offer the best chance of "cure."

Good luck with allergies!

Read the full WP article here.