Allergy season gets an early start in the Las Vegas Valley this year

If the sneezing, wheezing and nose-running weren’t enough evidence, the monitor on the roof of the Juanita Greer White Life Sciences building at UNLV confirms the worst.

Allergy season started early this year.

The monitor collects samples of pollens, molds and other sneeze-inducing vegetation that blow in the Southern Nevada breeze. And, notes Tanvi Patel, supervisor of the Clark County School District/UNLV pollen monitoring program, ash pollen — one of the first pollens seen here each year — was detected in January.

Thanks to wet weather and a spate of higher than normal temperatures, “we’ve seen high levels of ash tree and cedar tree pollen and moderate levels of mulberry pollen,” Patel says. “We typically don’t see mulberry until the middle of March. Now we’re seeing some of the mulberry bloom start earlier.”

Patel — herself an allergy sufferer — says the “biggest offenders” for 80 percent of allergy sufferers here are mulberry trees and olive trees.

The troublesome two “are actually banned from being planted now throughout Clark County,” she says, but so many of each species were planted here during the ’50s and ’60s that “it’s really hard to get rid of it.”

EARLY SYMPTOMS

Valley health care providers say patients began reporting allergy symptoms in February. What makes diagnosis of an allergy tricky is that this year’s allergy season kicked off even before the winter cold and flu season ended, said Dr. Daliah Wachs, a family medicine physician, host of a national radio show and an assistant professor at Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Two tipoffs of an allergy are nasal secretions that are “clear as opposed to thick and mucousy,” Wachs said, and allergies persist, while a cold clears up after seven to 10 days.

Most allergy sufferers resort, first, to over-the-counter remedies. Dr. Matthew Martin, a family practice physician and assistant professor at Touro, says options include antihistamines — which block the effect of histamines the body produces when exposed to an allergen — and decongestants to ease breathing.

Martin says consumers should read carefully the information that comes with any over-the-counter drug. Antihistamines, for example, can cause drowsiness; decongestants aren’t generally suitable for people with high blood pressure or heart disease; and other medications may be unsuitable for those who are pregnant or who have such chronic conditions as diabetes.

Note, too, that some over-the-counter medications used to be prescription medications. “If you have questions or concerns, certainly talk to your physician or pharmacist for guidance,” Martin says.

Dr. Salvatore Biazzo, senior staff physician at the UNLV Student Health Center and UNLV faculty/staff clinic, also suggests being careful taking multiple allergy medications at once.

“Some of the allergy medications out there, benign as they seem, people who have prostatic disease or people with (heart) palpitations need to watch out,” he says.

Biazzo says his general recommendation is that “you can try some of these, but if it’s not helping in about a week’s time, see somebody and discuss what’s going on.” An allergist or immunologist can offer further options that include desensitization shots or other more comprehensive allergy treatments.

LIFESTYLE FIXES

In the meantime, making a few lifestyle changes can help ease the annoyances of allergy season. Changing home air filters is a must. “Most of us have forced air heat and people sometimes forget these filters get pretty dusty around here,” Biazzo says.

Try to avoid going outside on windy days. Take a shower and wash your hair after work or school to remove pollen that may be sticking to hair, clothing and skin. And don’t forget that pets can be allergen carriers.

“People have pets that go outside and come in and have dust and all kinds of pollens on them,” Biazzo says. “And, of course, they all lie in bed with us.”

Read more from John Przybys at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com and follow @JJPrzybys on Twitter.