Here it comes again, the old enemy of allergy sufferers – ragweed! This tiny weed, which produces about a million pollen particles every year, has already started blooming, and that means only one thing – it’s time to start therapy! If you’re allergic, don’t wait for the pollen to knock you off your feet completely. Mirjana Mitrović, head of the pollen group at the Environmental Protection Agency, warns that ragweed blooming has already begun in some places, and as temperatures rise, the concentration of pollen in the air will explode.
Ragweed is one of the most aggressive allergens – responsible for a whopping 50% of all pollen allergies! Yes, you read that right, half of all pollen allergies in Serbia are due to this plant. Grasses account for about 20%, and birch, known as a strong allergen, makes up about 30%. But ragweed is a special case – its pollen grains look like little balls with hooks that latch onto the mucous membranes of the nose and eyes, causing a real allergic storm.
Symptoms? Allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis, and even bronchial asthma! Chronic exposure to this pollen can seriously harm your health. Every tenth resident of Serbia suffers from allergic problems due to ragweed. The threshold for allergenic pollen is 60 pollen grains per cubic meter of air, but for ragweed, it’s only 30 because it’s such a potent allergen.
How to protect yourself? First of all, if you’re allergic, start therapy immediately if you haven’t already. Monitor pollen concentration in the air and avoid being outdoors during peak pollen times. There are also other ways to ease symptoms, but you should discuss those with your doctor.
And while ragweed spreads and torments us, remember it’s not just a problem in Serbia – Europe has already seen scorching temperatures of 40.6 degrees Celsius in Aydın, Turkey, and a blistering 49.6 degrees in Kuwait! Heat waves and pollen – a combo nobody enjoys.
So, dear allergy sufferers, get your tissues, glasses, and therapy ready – ragweed is back to ruin our summer! And you, who aren’t allergic, take a look at your struggling friends and maybe offer some sympathy. Or just laugh it off – what else can we do?
Now, have you started therapy yet, or will you wait until ragweed completely breaks you down? Drop a comment, maybe together we can find a way out of this green nightmare!
