About Allergies: Ragweed Season is Just Around the Corner

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Allergies Allergies Symptoms / Diagnosis Treatment Coping From Daniel More, MD, your Guide to Allergies Summertime already seems to be coming to a close. Many kids are headed back to school in the next few weeks, and ragweed pollen will soon fill the air. Mid-August represents the start of ragweed season, when this common weed begins to pollinate, resulting in misery for many allergy sufferers. Ragweed is a particularly common autumn pollinator in the Northeastern, Midwestern and Southern portions of the United States. Find out more about ragweed allergy, including how ragweed season could make you allergic to certain fruits, such as melons and bananas. All About Ragweed Allergy Autumn brings to mind images of cooler weather, leaves changing color and kids going back to school. It may also bring images of nasal congestion, sneezing and boxes of nasal tissue for those of us suffering from ragweed allergy. Ragweed pollen, which is released from ragweed mostly between August and October, is one of the most important causes of fall hay fever symptoms. See More About:  pollen allergy  pollen avoidance  oral allergy syndrome Fruit Allergy Caused by Ragweed If you are allergic to various types of melons, and you also probably have allergic rhinitis caused by ragweed pollen. These symptoms are most likely due to something known as an oral allergy syndrome, in this case caused by melons. The oral allergy syndrome (OAS) is a form of food allergy that is caused by a person having an allergy to particular pollen. The pollen, in this case ragweed pollen, has similar proteins (called profilins) found in a certain fruit, in this case melons, which causes a person to be allergic to both. See More About:  oral allergy syndrome  food allergies  How to Interpret Pollen Counts We've all seen the daily pollen count report on the news or in the newspaper. These reports (or more accurately, forecasts) give us some idea of how much pollen is present in the air. Levels of tree pollen, grass pollen, and weed pollen are reported most often as being "low", "medium" or "high". Occasionally, these reports give further details on which kinds of tree and weed pollens are present, such as oak tree pollen or ragweed pollen, for example. See More About:  allergy symptoms  allergy diagnosis  allergy treatment Allergies Ads Seasonal Allergies Pollen Allergies Allergy Season Ragweed Allergies Allergies Treatment Featured Articles Glossary of Terms Information on the Most Common Allergy Medications Allergy Basics Frequently Asked Questions Nose and Eye Allergies Skin Allergies   More from About.com Free Children's Books How would you like to have access to a free online public library of books from around the world for kids 3 to 13? Read more...> Best Water Parks Better pack your bathing suit -- here are our recommendations for the funnest, wettest, splashiest water parks around. Read more...> This newsletter is written by: Daniel More, MD Allergies Guide Email Me | My Blog | My Forum   Sign up for more free newsletters on your favorite topics You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the About.com Allergies newsletter. If you wish to change your email address or unsubscribe, please click here. About.com respects your privacy: Our Privacy Policy Contact Information: 249 West 17th Street New York, NY, 10011 © 2012 About.com   Must Reads What are Allergies? Symptoms of Allergies Diagnosis of Allergies Treatment of Allergies Preventing Allergies   Follow me on: Advertisement