What is ragweed?
Ragweeds are weeds that grow throughout the United States. They are most common in the Eastern states and the Midwest. A plant lives only one season, but that plant produces up to 1 billion pollen grains. Pollen-producing and seed-producing flowers grow on the same plant but are separate organs. After midsummer, as nights grow longer, ragweed flowers mature and release pollen. Warmth, humidity and breezes after sunrise help the release. The pollen must then travel by air to another plant to fertilize the seed for growth the coming year.
Ragweed plants usually grow in rural areas. Near the plants, the pollen counts are highest shortly after dawn. The amount of pollen peaks in many urban areas between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., depending on the weather. Rain and low morning temperatures (below 50 degrees Fahrenheit) slow pollen release.
Who Gets Ragweed Allergy?
Of Americans who are allergic to pollen-producing plants, 75 percent are allergic to ragweed. People with allergies to one type of pollen tend to develop allergies to other pollens as well.
People with ragweed allergy may also get symptoms when they eat cantaloupe and banana. Chamomile tea, sunflower seeds and honey containing pollen from Compositae family members occasionally cause severe reactions, including shock.
Identification of Giant Ragweed: Click on the picture at right to open the mini-photo gallery, where you’ll see a photo of two individual leaves from a giant ragweed plant. Notice that one of the leaves is 3-lobed (its most common leaf-type), while the other is 5-lobed.
Where Giant Ragweed Grows: Giant ragweed is indigenous to North America. It can be found in every state in the continental U.S. except Nevada and is also widespread in Canada. This source of the notorious ragweed allergy thrives in disturbed soils and is frequently found along roadsides.
Avoidance
To reduce exposure to ragweed, use the following tips from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI):
• Keep windows closed at all times during ragweed season to prevent pollen from drifting into your home. Use air conditioning, which cleans, cools and dries the air.
• Minimize outdoor activity when pollen counts are high. Peak pollen times are usually between 10 am and 4 pm.
• Keep your car windows closed when traveling.
• Take a shower after spending time outside, pollen can collect on your hair and skin.
• Don’t hang sheets or clothing outside to dry. Pollens can collect on them as well.
• Minimize exposure to other known allergens during ragweed season, since symptoms are the result of a cumulative effect of multiple allergens and non-allergic triggers.
• Get up-to-date pollen information for your area from the National Allergy Bureau (NAB).
Ragweed Allergy May Trigger Depression, Malaise
Sneezing, a runny or congested nose, and swollen, itchy eyes are the well-known symptoms of ragweed allergy. And to those should be added malaise and depression, at least for some ragweed sufferers.
August and September are rarely a favorite time of year for the some 36 million Americans who suffer from ragweed allergies. During these weeks, ragweed pollen moves their immune systems into high gear and leads to sneezing, a runny or congested nose, and swollen, itchy eyes.
Many of these ragweed sufferers may also experience a sense of malaise and even depression, suggests a study reported in the July-August Psychosomatic Medicine.
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