When will the birch tree bloom in a year? Flowering calendar for the northern and southern parts of Russia. Medicines and asit

Hello dear reader!

Undoubtedly, you have seen a birch tree bloom. However, I hope that some of the “tricks” of this process will be interesting. For the most curious. Well, I also invite you to look at new photos of blooming birch trees.

Among the trees of our forest, birch is one of the first to bloom. Perhaps only alder is more hasty than her. And there are certain doubts about willow. In some years, the birch can overtake it.

Birch trees bloom even before the leaves bloom, usually in April. In Central Russia this is the middle of the month. For us – somewhere closer to May Day. Accordingly, in the south flowering begins earlier - in some places as early as March. And in the north, birch blooms already in May.

How does a birch tree bloom? With the beginning of flowering, the entire appearance of the tree changes dramatically—in one or two days. At the ends of birch branches hang loose, slightly yellowish earrings from five to ten centimeters long. They usually hang in groups of two or three.

These earrings appeared on the tree (they are also sometimes called more sophisticatedly - earring-shaped thyrsuses) long before flowering. More precisely, last summer. And at first they were green, short, sticking up. Then they grew older and darkened. These earrings are covered with a resinous substance that protects the contents from water.

And for a while they hid, froze. Until spring. But it's April again. Each earring suddenly comes to life, lengthens sharply, and sags. Birch blossoms. Flowering does not end with the appearance of small leaves on the birch tree. On the contrary, this is still the very height of the process!

Large yellowish catkins hanging at the ends of birch branches (biologists say on elongated shoots) consist of only staminate male flowers. A couple of perianth scales and two stamens - that’s the whole flower. True, there are many of these flowers in the earring.

Three such modest flowers sit in the axil of the covering scale, which has grown to the stem of the earring. There are many scales in the earring, and each has a trinity of flowers.

Lightly click on the dangling earring with your finger and a light yellow cloud will fly out. This is birch pollen.

But since the tree has male staminate flowers collected in separate inflorescences, then somewhere there must be pistillate, female ones? They are on the same tree, and are also collected in earrings. Just not as noticeable. Women's birch earrings are shorter and thinner than men's. And they are dark green.

Take a closer look at this photo. There is a branch of a silver birch on it. The familiar men's earrings hanging at the ends of the branches are clearly visible. And above them on the branch some kind of “sticks” or “candles” stick up and slightly to the side. These are the desired female inflorescences with pistillate flowers.

Here they are in the photo larger.

Here you can see that the birch branch has short side shoots (they are called shortened shoots). Each of these shoots has buds. From them both leaves and female earrings appear. Under the covering scales sit five tiny, inconspicuous flowers made from only pistils. And the three-lobed scales grew to the stem of the inflorescence.

Birch pollen is carried by the wind. That’s why it blooms while the leaves are small.

But fertilization of the female flowers occurred. Men's earrings fall off immediately after this. And women’s ones become thicker and looser. Now they no longer stick out on the branch, but hang down. And they become completely knobby. This is exactly what biologists call them - pineal thyrsi.

This is no longer an inflorescence, but a fruit. The fruits will ripen at the end of July - August. The winged small nuts will be carried by the wind. Birch is friends with the wind!

Alas, for some of us, the flowering of birch is not a joyful sign of spring, but an annual, scheduled, big nuisance.

Hay fever– an allergic reaction to plant pollen. Light birch pollen carried by the wind in huge quantities can cause an attack of this disease.

There is little good (or rather, none at all!). My nose is running and my eyes are watering. Headache, fever. These are the most common signs of hay fever. The coincidence of the flowering dates of some plants, for example, birch, will allow you to suspect an allergy to pollen. However, only doctors can determine this for sure..

There are medications that can alleviate the suffering of the patient. However, the most radical way is to go somewhere during this time. If you are allergic to birch pollen, then go to the south, where it has already bloomed. Or to the north, where it is not yet blooming.

The topic of today's article is the flowering calendar for allergy sufferers, relevant for 2019. A calendar reflecting the flowering times of various plants that can provoke allergies will help you take the necessary measures in advance in order to successfully fight the disease.

Allergy, despite its prevalence, has acquired a huge number of myths. In particular, many blame poplar fluff for seasonal allergies. In fact, down does not cause allergies, but it carries pollen from flowering grasses, for example, fescue or timothy, over long distances. And pollen may well cause an allergic reaction.

Among all types of allergies, hay fever ( hay fever, seasonal allergies) are especially common. If you have hay fever, a flowering calendar will help you take steps to ease the symptoms of the disease.

Current news for 2019

Birch trees are actively dusting.

In addition, the following flowers bloom: willow, maple, elm, alder,

Seasonal allergies manifest themselves:

• conjunctivitis (inflammation, itching, pain in the eyes), lacrimation,
• runny nose ( allergic rhinitis),
• coughing and sneezing.

Sometimes there is a pain in the throat and (or in the ears).

A more severe manifestation of hay fever is pollen asthma. Allergy manifestations such as urticaria and Quincke's edema are possible.

Manifestations of hay fever can affect both children and adults. It is important to know what plants bloom in your region to avoid allergies if possible.

In children, a symptom such as ear congestion (up to complete temporary hearing loss) is quite common. Sometimes childhood hay fever takes on the character of severe bronchial asthma.

It will be useful to know about the probability - after all, a reaction can occur not only to pollen, but also to similar proteins in food products.

Allergenic plants: when do they bloom?

There are three main types of seasonal allergies.

• Spring(trees blooming). Falls in April - May.
• Summer(flowering of cereals and meadow grasses). Falls between June and August.
• Summer-autumn(weed bloom). Falls between August and October.

You can view the flowering calendar for allergy sufferers in the table below, after selecting your region.

• South of Russia
• Volga region
• Central Russia
• Siberia
• North-West Russia

Another interesting calendar for the central regions from Scientific and Clinical Center allergology, immunology and dermatology:

In addition, there is from the PollenClub project. (It is not recommended to watch from smartphones, it is poorly displayed)

In spring, herbaceous plants hardly bloom.

Willow is the first to bloom in March, willow and cherry are the first to bloom in April, and “catkins” appear on birch. In May, hawthorn, cornflower, chestnut, oak, ash and rose hips begin to bloom, and among herbaceous plants - clover. Herbaceous plants such as cinquefoil, chamomile and lily of the valley bloom in May. Flowers appear on bird cherry and lilac.

In summer, most of the plants that can cause allergies bloom. The allergy sufferer's calendar at this time is distinguished by a large number of herbs.

In June, cornflower, hawthorn, datura, elecampane and carnation bloom. Chestnut, clover, viburnum, St. John's wort, celandine and thistle continue to bloom.

In July, ragweed (in the southern regions), hemp, cloves, datura, and elecampane bloom. Herbs such as motherwort, wheatgrass and thistle are blooming.

August - ragweed, carnation and cornflower bloom. This month is when foxgloves, quinoa, nettles and sunflowers begin to bloom. Chamomile and thistle are blooming.

In September, allergy sufferers continue to be bothered by ragweed, as well as weeds (sow thistle, quinoa and nettle).

Around the end of September, a period of relative calm begins for a person suffering from allergies. Until next spring.

But sometimes allergies remind you even in late autumn, after a romantic walk in a park strewn with fallen leaves. The fact is that plant pollen can also survive on fallen leaves.

We have listed the main flowering plants, in fact there are many more of them: in the table below you can see the full composition of the families of wind-pollinated plants that cause hay fever.

Table: Related wind-pollinated plants within major families

Useful video: which plants cause allergies

How is the flowering calendar useful for allergy sufferers?

Having information about the flowering of various plants in a particular area, and having carefully studied the allergy calendar, an allergy sufferer will be able to take preventive measures in a timely manner. For example, take a vacation, go for a “dangerous” period to another area where there are no allergic plants and their flowering has ended.

Before the dangerous period begins, you can start taking antihistamines, purchase nasal and eye drops, antiallergic sprays.

If you are a supporter traditional medicine, then it’s time to take mumiyo (a good preventative against allergies). Mumiyo solution, as a rule, begins to be drunk for prophylactic purposes about a month before the start of the flowering period.

There is time to check the operation of the air conditioner and the condition of its filters (if necessary, clean them).

If you carefully analyze the data, it will become clear: the flowering calendar for allergy sufferers differs quite significantly by region. For residents of the southern regions, the duration of the “dangerous” period is longer than for northerners. Let's take, for example, one of the strongest allergens - ragweed. In central Russia, this plant blooms for 1.5 - 2 months: from approximately the beginning of August to mid-September. At the same time, for residents of the southern regions (Krasnodar Territory, Rostov Region), ragweed blooms from July to October.

Flowering time and plants in Crimea differ from Moscow or St. Petersburg. This is why it is so important that the calendar be adapted to a specific climate zone. Today, the Internet helps allergy sufferers. It is possible to view the flowering calendar online.

Important! Not all cities have pollen monitoring stations! You can find approximate information on the distribution of pollen on Yandex maps - https://yandex.ru/pogoda/maps/pollen.

Below you can see flowering calendars for some Russian cities.

What's blooming in Moscow

Forecast of the danger level for allergens in the air from PollenClub

In central Russia, dusting begins with alder and hazel.

• Alder, hazel - late March - April.
• Birch - from the end of April.
• Apricot, oak, ash, elm, maple, lilac, apple tree- May.
• Willow, poplar, linden, conifers- May June.

Summer

• Cereals - from the end of May - June.
• Plantain, nettle, sorrel- from the end of June.
• Chenopodiaceae - from the end of June.
• Wormwood - from July.

*Data are based on E.E. Severova

What and when blooms in Krasnodar and the region. Kuban

The south of Russia is a special territory where flowering plants “torment” allergy sufferers for almost 8 months a year. Due to the warm climate, there are a large number of plants growing here that can cause an allergic reaction.

Almost every third resident of the Krasnodar Territory suffers from allergies.

The start of allergy season depends on weather conditions.

End of winter-spring

Blooming trees:

• Hazel, alder - from mid-February to late March.
• Willow, hornbeam, pine- March.
• Poplar, maple, oak, ash, elm, birch- April - early May.
• Willow - April - May.
• Bird cherry, plane tree, Walnut, cherry plum- end of April - May.
• Lilac, plum, currant- May

From herbs and shrubs:

• Foxtail, wheatgrass, rapeseed- end of April - May to early July.
• Acacia, ryegrass, fescue, hedgehog, feather grass, lily of the valley- from mid-May.
• - from the end of May.

Poplar fluff actively helps spread the pollen of other plants.

Summer

This season most of The trees have already faded and are being replaced by weeds and grasses.

• Chestnut, linden - from the beginning of June.

• Corn, sorghum, barley, oats, wheat, rye- June.
• Sunflower - from the end of June.
• Wormwood - all July.
• Quinoa - end of July - end of August.
• Ambrosia - early August - early October.

Autumn

The end of the flowering season usually occurs in mid-October.

• Ambrosia - flowering ends in late September - early October.
• Rice - until the end of September.
• Artemisia annual- mid-September - end of October.

When ragweed blooms, people feel best in high mountain areas.

Data on A.I. Ostroumov

Dust calendar for Stavropol

Saint Petersburg

*Data are based on L.G. Nikolskoy, G.T. Fedosov, N.I. Ivanova, E.F. Redhead

When allergenic plants bloom in Siberia

One of the reasons large quantity Allergy sufferers in Siberia - poor ecology. Because of this, hay fever is much worse tolerated.

• April - May - trees (birch and others),
• May - August - dandelions,
• summer - cereals (fescue and ryegrass),
• late summer - September - weeds (wormwood).

Altai region

April May. A common allergen is birch, which is used for city landscaping.

Tomsk region

April May. In addition to birch - maple, linden and willow.

Novosibirsk

April May. Alder and birch.

June July. Meadow grasses (bluegrass, timothy, ryegrass). Cultivated cereals (rye, oats).

The Republic of Buryatia

The main allergen of the steppe is wormwood and other weeds. In spring - trees. There are almost no meadow grasses.

What and when blooms in Krasnoyarsk

On the territory of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, 3 periods of dusting of allergenic plants have been established. Wind-pollinated plants are widespread. Their pollen is small in size and highly volatile, so it is easily carried over vast distances.

April May

Characterized by the maximum pollen content in the air. The trees that bloom first are birch, alder and poplar.

Most often, this period begins in May, but if spring is early, in the southern regions of the region - at the end of April.

Not a very long period, but a difficult period to bear.

End of May - mid July

Lowest concentration of pollen in the air. During these months, pine and meadow cereals bloom.

Pollen from coniferous trees is heavy and is heavily carried by the wind. But those who have them growing near their homes should be careful.

Mid July - end of August

A wide variety of weeds and ornamental plants bloom. First of all - goosefoot, hemp and wormwood (found on roadsides, in courtyards, wastelands). Decorative - marigolds, asters, chrysanthemums.

Air temperature and humidity are the main factors influencing the dynamics of plant dusting in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Irkutsk

Data on B.A. Chernyak, N.S. Korotkov

Rostov-on-Don

Data on K.A. Cancerous

Saratov

*Data according to N.S. Gurina and N.G. Astafieva

Vladivostok (Primorsky Krai)

Seasonal allergies plague residents of the region from late April to mid-September. Also influenced by the proximity to China, from whose cultivated areas the winds easily carry pollen.

• April May . Trees in bloom: oak, ash, birch, alder, hazel, poplar, maple, willow.
• June August . The flowering period of cereals and some weeds: wheatgrass, bluegrass, rye, corn, fescue, quinoa, sunflower and others.

  In June, pollen allergens are widely transported by poplar fluff.

• Aug. Sept. Weeds are blooming: ragweed, wormwood, dandelion, quinoa and others.

What blooms in Volgograd and the region

The flowering season of herbs in the Volgograd region lasts more than 8 months. This is one of the longest periods in Russia.

The wind carries pollen tens of kilometers away.

A huge number of weeds grow in the region.

The editors of Argumenty i Fakty have prepared an entertaining infographic - a flowering calendar for allergy sufferers in Volgograd and the Volgograd region. You can find it below:

Infographics: What and when blooms in the Volgograd region. Risk zones for allergy sufferers during the flowering season in Volgograd

What blooms in Crimea

A large number of allergenic plants bloom in Crimea from May to August.

Main allergens:

• Poplar (city streets are densely planted with it) - May - June,
• Cypress - April - May,
• Ambrosia (everywhere, especially in Simferopol, Dzhankoy, Saki, Kirov and Leninsky regions) - July - October.

What else could the reaction be:

• May – dandelion, walnut, chestnut, linden, mulberry, birch
• June – sunflower, rye, castor beans
• July – elderberry, wormwood

Timing of plant dusting in Ukraine and the structure of hay fever

How to identify an allergen and treat allergies

Recognizing an allergen is not an easy task. For example, the flowering time of lily of the valley is only 10 - 15 days. Manifestations of allergies (sneezing, coughing, runny nose) can be disguised as a common cold; often a person is not aware of the presence of an allergy. You need to think about this if such symptoms appear with a certain frequency (the pollen allergy calendar helps to analyze the situation in more detail).

Another warning sign

Allergy sufferers feel unwell in windy, dry weather, but all symptoms disappear without a trace after rain. At the slightest suspicion of an allergy, you should consult an experienced allergist.

The most common method currently used is skin testing. Its essence lies in the subcutaneous injection of a small amount of allergen. After the allergen is introduced, you need to monitor how the body reacts to it. This is enough informative method to identify the allergen, but at the height of the flowering of allergic plants, when the allergic person is taking antihistamines, it should not be used.

Allergy treatments include:

• taking antihistamines;
• use of nasal and eye drops;
• for skin manifestations of allergies - ointments, creams with anti-inflammatory, wound healing and (or) antihistamine effect.
• ASIT.

What will help with hay fever: some useful tips

1. Helps alleviate allergy symptoms dietary adjustments. For example, you will have to abstain from honey (of any kind). The reason is simple: honey may contain exactly the type of pollen that provokes allergies. If you are hypersensitive to tree and shrub pollen, reduce your intake of fruits, nuts and berries. If you have a reaction to herbs such as fescue or timothy, you will have to temporarily give up porridge (with the exception of buckwheat), sunflower oil, seeds, halva and bread kvass.
2. Keep your house clean. Try to do wet cleaning as often as possible. This will create an obstacle to the spread of pollen throughout the house. You need to leave the house as little as possible; preferably after rain.
3. Buy good ones antihistamines . But only those prescribed by the doctor. Many of the antihistamines are far from harmless, and diphenhydramine and suprastin significantly reduce attention.
4. In no case Do not combine antiallergic medications with alcohol. This can significantly worsen the patient's condition.
5. Visit an allergist in the fall, during the “calm” period. This is the best time to start allergen treatment (ASIT). Remember that self-medication is unacceptable here. The type and dosage of the drug is prescribed by the doctor.

By observing these simple rules, you will significantly reduce the likelihood of an allergic reaction.

Hay fever, or allergic rhinitis, is a seasonal chronic illness arising in connection with hypersensitivity the human body to pollen of various plants. Exacerbation of hay fever occurs in the warm season - late spring, summer and early autumn.

The widely accepted historical name for this disease is “hay fever.” This peculiar term was proposed in 1819 by the English physician John Bostock: annually observing characteristic symptoms- lacrimation, runny nose and sneezing - the doctor suggested that their appearance is associated with hay, which is harvested in the summer. However, already in 1873 it was proven that pollen is the cause of the development of hay fever.

For a person who is not prone to an allergic reaction, the pollen of a flowering plant is absolutely harmless. The body of an allergy sufferer perceives the smallest particles of pollen as harmful elements and, when interacting with them, reproduces a powerful inflammatory response - a kind of counterattack, during which the cells and tissues of the body itself are damaged.

Pollen of some plants under a microscope (magnification 500 times).

In the case of hay fever, this occurs mainly in the summer - during the flowering period. Wind-pollinated plants pose a particular danger: their pollen has the ability to be transported by air and travel long distances. As a result, the air becomes saturated with tiny pollen particles up to 0.04 mm in size, which easily penetrate into Airways and settle on the mucous membranes, provoking the development of an allergic reaction.

Depending on geographical features, hay fever can be observed in a significant proportion of the region’s population – up to 20%. As a rule, residents of northern regions suffer from pollen allergies much less often than residents of southern territories, although they cannot be completely excluded from the risk group. Moreover, the development of hay fever can be genetically determined: if both parents are prone to allergies, their child will also become allergic with a probability of 70-80%.

Symptoms of hay fever

The main affected area for hay fever is the eyes and respiratory organs. Patients experience a runny nose, swelling of the nasal mucosa, and sneezing attacks that appear at night or early in the morning. A dry cough often appears, accompanied by a sore throat: unlike a cough caused by ARVI, it lasts more than two weeks and is recognized by the characteristic sensation of itching and irritation. With hay fever, the mucous membrane of the eyes becomes inflamed, watery and red.

Depending on the severity of the allergic reaction, headaches, increased fatigue, weakness and loss of appetite may occur with hay fever. In particularly severe cases of the disease, as well as in the case of improper treatment, the patient may develop quite serious complications - including sinusitis, purulent conjunctivitis, bronchitis and pneumonia. In this regard, people prone to hay fever are advised to take a responsible approach to summer preventive measures.

Know your enemy by sight: plant allergens

Allergenic plants can be divided into three large categories depending on the time of flowering: spring, summer and summer-autumn. The first group includes trees, the second includes meadow grasses and cereals, and the third includes weeds.

It is worth saying that predominantly wind-pollinated plants are considered allergenic due to the high concentration of their pollen in the air. Pollen from insect-pollinated plants is present in the air in very small quantities, and therefore they are considered relatively harmless. These plants can be identified by the bright colors of their flowers and strong smell, which serve to attract insects.

The hay fever season opens at the end of March - beginning of April, when the willow blooms. Following this, willow, alder and hazel bloom in April, then aspen and poplar. By the way, contrary to popular belief, poplar fluff itself does not cause allergies: its danger lies in its ability to transfer pollen from other, more allergenic plants - including conifers and cereals.

At the beginning of May, birch, maple, oak begin to bloom, coniferous trees and large shrubs - apple tree, hawthorn, cherry, viburnum - bloom.

During the three summer months, intensive flowering of meadow plants and cereals occurs. In June, dandelion, thistle, and foxtail begin to bloom, and linden also blooms in central Russia. In July, fescue, timothy, bluegrass, wheatgrass, elecampane, motherwort, and datura bloom. In August, carnations, cornflowers, wormwood and ragweed begin to bloom.

Summer is the most dangerous time for people prone to allergies, since it is during the summer that most known allergenic plants bloom simultaneously. Depending on sensitivity to one or another of them, a person can suffer an acute outbreak of hay fever several times during the season.

In early autumn, most weeds bloom - quinoa, wormwood, nettle, foxglove, ragweed. At the end of September, flowering gradually stops, but pollen still remains in the air for some time. It happens that pollen settles on tree branches and fallen leaves, so the risk of allergies continues until mid-October.

Flowering calendar

The flowering calendar is a table displaying the flowering time of allergenic plants in various regions of central Russia. Using this table, a person suffering from hay fever can determine which period will be the most dangerous for him and prepare for its onset in a timely manner.
You can avoid an outbreak of the disease, including by planning a trip, vacation or business trip for a potentially dangerous period - this way you can wait out the time of flowering of the allergen in an area where this plant is absent, or where its flowering period has already ended.

Before the flowering period of the allergen plant begins, make sure to always have antihistamines on hand in a release form convenient for you. These can be anti-inflammatory and antiallergic sprays, tablets, drops for the eyes and nose - before purchasing this or that product, you will need to consult with an allergist. Stock up on protective equipment - masks, wet wipes for wiping your face. Large Sunglasses.

Before a dangerous plant begins to bloom, take time to prepare your apartment. Check the operation of the air conditioner and, if necessary, clean its filters - this way you can protect your home microclimate from allergens. If possible, install humidifiers or air ionizers in your home and workplace to help neutralize pollen particles.

This will help you determine the current pollen concentration levels in your area. new feature Yandex.Weather service - pollen monitoring. The pollen map displays the flowering range of allergen plants with an accuracy of 10 km and shows the pollen distribution forecast for the coming week. Service data is updated every 24 hours. The “Pollen” tab is located in the “Weather on the map” panel on the main page of the service; you can select the desired allergen in the lower right part of the map.

Treatment and prevention

IN modern medicine To treat allergies, including hay fever, so-called allergen-specific immunotherapy, or ASIT, is used. This method is based on a gradual decrease in the body's sensitivity to a specific allergen and works on the principle of a vaccine: weak doses of the allergen are systematically administered to the patient over a long period of time. As a result of therapy, the body gets used to interacting with the allergen, adapts and develops a less destructive reaction mechanism to this irritant. The effectiveness of ASIT has been scientifically proven and confirmed by the results of studies conducted around the world.

The duration of ASIT is, on average, from 2 to 5 years, with a noticeable effect from treatment occurring after one year of therapy. As a rule, the allergen is injected into the patient under the skin, but in some cases - including severe fear of injections in children - it is placed under the tongue. It is recommended to start ASIT for hay fever several months before the start of flowering - preferably in winter.

To relieve the symptoms of hay fever, antihistamines, nasal and eye drops are used. If allergies also manifest themselves in the form of skin reactions, it is necessary to use ointments and creams with anti-inflammatory and antihistamine effects.

An allergist will help you draw up a detailed course of treatment. It is advisable to visit it before the dangerous season begins - it is best to do this in late autumn or winter. When diagnosing hay fever, skin allergy testing, a blood test and a cytological examination of a smear of the nasal mucosa may be necessary. The data obtained will help the doctor when drawing up a treatment program and preventive recommendations.

Preventive measures for hay fever:

1. Do wet cleaning around the house more often– this will help you reduce the amount of pollen in the air. If possible, ventilate the room through a window curtained with a damp cloth to trap pollen particles coming from the street. It is advisable to dry washed items indoors to prevent pollen from settling.
2. Eliminate potentially dangerous foods from your diet. Allergy sufferers are advised to avoid consuming any type of honey as it may contain allergenic pollen. If you are sensitive to pollen from cereal plants, reduce the consumption of cereals and their derivatives - porridge, sunflower oil, seeds, halva, kozinaki. If the allergic reaction is caused mainly by tree pollen, you should eat less fruits, nuts and berries. Regardless of the type of allergen, it is recommended to stop taking various herbal remedies.
3. Rinse your throat and nose thoroughly when returning from the street. When outside the home, keep wet wipes with you and periodically wipe exposed areas of your body with them, particularly your face and hands. It is advisable to store street clothes separately from the rest.
4. Don't neglect your wellness treatments. Today there are many practices available to improve health. respiratory system. Haloghygiene - visiting salt rooms and - is one of the most effective and simple methods combating respiratory diseases and hay fever: tiny particles of salt settling on the walls of the mucous membrane of the eyes and respiratory organs have a powerful cleansing effect and relieve inflammation. Halohygiene sessions can be performed outside the home, visiting a salt cave, or at home using special devices - haloinhalers.

About a fifth of the world's population suffers from hay fever, and every year, starting in mid-April, the first truly warm days involuntarily force one to refresh one's memory about hay fever. Not everyone will be able to spend the upcoming May holidays at a country picnic. But this is not a reason to despair at all. Hay fever was discovered 200 years ago, and the method of its treatment recently turned 100 years old.

Symptoms of hay fever

” Allergic rhinitis at the beginning of its development is similar to a common acute respiratory disease, however, despite this, it is quite easily diagnosed. The most important difference is the seasonality of its appearance.

In the warm season, the child experiences lacrimation and discomfort in the eyes, itching of the nose appears with characteristic scratching of the tip of the nose (the so-called “greeting of an allergy sufferer”), nasal congestion, and rhinitis occurs unexpectedly and also suddenly disappears, especially after taking antihistamines. Dermatitis may develop. The child is irritable for no obvious reason, gets tired quickly, is capricious, and drowsiness appears. You should be wary if there is a cough on the border between dry and wet, especially if it appears between one and three o'clock in the morning, or after going outside, or, conversely, when entering the entrance (sharp change in temperature), or when going out into nature .

” The same symptoms also occur during active snowmelt - from early to mid-April, when it is still far from above-zero temperatures, as well as in the fall - on rotten leaves of trees, from about the end of September to mid-October, especially if you burn fires with leaves in front of a child.

Collecting anamnesis and tests to make a diagnosis

If you are not sure about the nature of the cough and runny nose, you should first contact your pediatrician to rule out a viral or infectious nature of the disease.

” There is no need to delay a visit to the doctor; sometimes self-medication supposedly for a “cold” drags on for years.

This is especially dangerous with an “incomprehensible” cough, which may turn out to be allergic tracheobronchitis, and then asthma. The pediatrician will refer you for a consultation to an allergist-immunologist and give you coupons for tests.

” To visit any allergist, you need to have on hand: ready-made test results (CBC, OAM, feces and scraping for eggworm), a referral from a pediatrician indicating that the nature of the disease is not viral or infectious, an outpatient card. Prepare in advance a list of diseases of the child’s parents to determine the degree of heredity burden according to allergic diseases, a list of questions to ask the doctor about organizing everyday life, nutrition, and treatment.

It is very useful to start monitoring before visiting an allergist. food diary, where you need to record the time of food intake, its detailed composition, what the reaction was and at what time. This is necessary to make or exclude a preliminary diagnosis of “food allergy” and determine the type of allergic reaction - immediate or delayed.

If your eyes are very inflamed, you should consult an ophthalmologist before visiting an allergist.

” After the first visit to the allergist and taking a medical history, the child will be sent to undergo other tests - first of all, to determine total IgE (in a nutshell, this is a test to determine the “truth” of allergies or how strongly the child is prone to allergic diseases), but you need to remember that approximately in a third of patients with atopic diseases, this indicator may be normal.

If the child has complaints only of rhinitis, but skin manifestations and there are no others, then it is necessary to exclude ENT diseases - the same adenoiditis, for this you will need to consult an otolaryngologist. It will be possible to take a rhinocytogram (nasal swab), and then it will be clear whether the rhinitis is allergic or is it some kind of ENT disease.

Allergy tests

Most main way Diagnosis of hay fever involves allergy tests, which are carried out strictly in allergy clinics; such a procedure is not done at home.

There are two types of samples

• When performing scarification skin tests on the hands, it does not hurt at all to make tiny “scratches” with a scarifier and drop special drops of food, household, epidermal, pollen, and fungal allergens onto them.

• The second method, using blood from a vein, is a method for determining specific antibodies of the IgE class in blood serum; here the same groups of allergens are determined, but of a more expanded composition, up to exotic ones, such as allergies to the skin of reptiles or fruits that grow only in Africa. The second method is used when it is impossible to conduct skin tests, for example, because the child is very young, or if the child is not able to sit quietly with allergens applied to the scratches, because the hands will itch very much.

” In Novosibirsk, skin tests can be carried out both in local clinics (in allergy clinics) and in paid allergy clinics.

For example, we held in the office of R.M. Zakrevskaya (Kirova St., 46) skin tests for 60 allergens (in 2007), also carried out in the allergy clinic O.A. Batychko (Morskoy Ave., 25), where we were assigned at our place of residence until 2013, for 40 allergens. After the opening of the children's clinic on Demakova Street, it became possible to do tests in the lower zone of Akademgorodok. You need to prepare for 2-3 visits, because, firstly, there are a lot of allergens, you can’t put everything on your little hands at once, and secondly, some groups of allergens cannot be treated at once in one day.

To conduct allergy tests, the child must be healthy, without elevated temperature, you also need to not take antihistamines for 3 weeks. Samples are usually carried out from October-November, depending on when snow cover is expected, until the weather warms up - until the end of March.

Based on the results of samples and other tests, a diagnosis is made - hay fever to certain herbs or trees. Tests are carried out every two years. A child over 5 years old diagnosed with asthma is sent annually for a spirogram (this study is also carried out at our nearest clinic on Demakova Street).

Questions for the doctor: organization of meals, everyday life

• Ask your doctor about cross allergies. Such an allergy can arise to products that have a similar structure in terms of a set of amino acids with certain allergens, as well as those belonging to the same family along with herbs or trees that cause hay fever. Get a leaflet from your doctor indicating these foods.

For example, if you are allergic to birch, then during the flowering period and about 2-4 weeks before the start of flowering, you should not eat carrots, dill, potatoes, as well as all stone fruits growing on trees, juices from them, all kinds of nuts, etc. It is necessary to exclude the presence in the same room of a person suffering from birch hay fever and peeling potatoes that have sprouted (ready for planting in the country). Detailed list There are a lot of products with cross allergies; the most complete answer can be given by an allergist, or you can look it up on the Internet.

• Organization of everyday life is very important. As the allergist told me, everyday life should be as close as possible to hospital (no matter how upsetting it may be), that is, hypoallergenic. No open shelves; books should be behind closed doors. Remove carpets, fluffy blankets and capes too. Choose indoor plants that do not smell, and it is better to remove them from the room while the trees are dusting. Hide souvenirs and collections of soft toys behind glass doors, exclude flower arrangements. In general, a minimum of surfaces on which pollen and dust would land. Daily wet cleaning during flowering is mandatory, preferably twice a day. Washing powders and cleaning products should not smell fragrant throughout the entire apartment; it is better to use hypoallergenic ones. Pets and fish are only allowed if you are 100% sure that there is no reaction to them. Some breeds of dogs and cats are considered hypoallergenic, but everything is individual.

• Ask an allergist about restorative treatments: hardening, visiting the pool, playing sports. Depending on the severity of the allergy and concomitant diseases The doctor can recommend certain ways to strengthen the immune system.

Treatment of hay fever during exacerbation, preparation for flowering

For the period of exacerbation during flowering, as well as 2-4 weeks before the expected flowering, treatment is prescribed.

Self-medication is unacceptable and dangerous! Medicines, as well as their dosage, time of administration and method, duration of administration are strictly individual!

General prescriptions for hay fever that do not require hospitalization usually include:

• individual diet,
• antihistamines,
• drugs for the treatment and prevention of rhinitis,
• drugs for the treatment and prevention of conjunctivitis,
• basic therapy,
• medications to relieve attacks (if there is no effect, you should immediately consult a doctor or immediately call an ambulance),
• sorbents,
• a recommendation not to go outside on hot, dry days, to place damp cloth (or gauze) on the windows at home, not to walk early in the morning, to walk after rain,
• advice to take a shower as often as possible, wear dark glasses outside and headdress,
• recommendation to carry out frequent wet cleaning at home; it is very good if there is at least one room with a hypoallergenic environment in which the child can sleep and play.

If a rare medicine is prescribed, you can search for it in Novosibirsk pharmacies on the website http://lek.nsk.ru/ or in the service for the availability of goods in pharmacies of the Municipal Novosibirsk Pharmacy Network - tel. 230-18-18.

If you need to go outside during flowering

If going outside is unavoidable, for example, if you need to go to the clinic, you need sunglasses, a mask over your nose and mouth, and a hat so that you can take it off later in the clinic so that there is no pollen left on your hair. You need to throw something on top - a sweater or windbreaker, which can be taken off at the clinic and put in a bag. There is a drug “Nazaval”, it is sprayed into the nose before going outside, it lines the mucous membrane with a protective layer, preventing pollen from irritating the mucous membrane, but with abundant flowering it is not a panacea.

” About three years ago, a barrier method of protection appeared - a special filter inserted into the nose, the so-called invisible respirator. They are available for “dry” and “wet” noses.

After coming home You need to rinse your nose with saline or regular saline. The eyes are washed and then rinsed from pollen with the “Natural Tear” preparation. It is very effective to take a shower immediately after arriving, and for everyone who comes, to wash off the pollen. And, of course, you need to wash your shoes, and put your clothes in washing machine and wash it, or at least put it in a closed closet, without shaking pollen all over the corridor.

Treatment of hay fever outside the period of exacerbation: ASIT

” The most common method of treating hay fever is allergen-specific immunotherapy - the introduction of an allergen into the body according to a special scheme.

The body seems to “get used” to the presence of the allergen and stops producing an immune reaction. And gradually, over the years, after several courses of ASIT, the mechanism of histamine production by mast cells is gradually suppressed - “tired”. The response to flowering either decreases or disappears altogether. The earlier ASIT treatment is started, the greater the chance of going into stable remission.

This therapy is carried out during the period of remission, and stops two weeks before flowering. There are contraindications to ASIT, including severe forms asthma, hay fever, dermatitis, as well as serious illnesses internal organs, mental illness in the acute phase, acute infectious diseases, blood diseases, reduced immunity, age under 5 years (for injections), as well as the unwillingness of parents to regularly take the child to procedures or a sharp rejection of the procedure by the patient himself.

” There are adverse reactions, especially if the dose of the administered allergen is incorrectly selected, and local reactions (hyperemia, itching), so ASIT is carried out strictly in the allergy room!

You need to sign up for ASIT with the allergist who is seeing your child. On the day of ASIT, the child must be healthy, without fever, the day of ASIT and the day of the Mantoux test should not coincide, and on the day of ASIT, foods with cross-allergy should not be consumed with a large dose of an allergen. You can take water procedures, but you can’t go to the sauna, and you can’t rub the injection site with a washcloth. If the injection site is itchy, you can apply ice in a plastic cup, or something from the freezer, wrapped in a towel; do not scratch the injection site.

There are two types of ASIT

• With ASIT the allergen is injected subcutaneously (injections) according to a special scheme, and at allergy clinics at the place of residence, this method of treatment is provided free of charge.

• There are also the second method is sublingual, the drug is bought by parents. The second method has been actively spreading over the last four years. It is more convenient, because the drops can be taken with you on trips, it is welcomed by parents - there is less need to visit a doctor and you can start treatment from 3 years old, and not just from 5. Children tolerate this method more calmly, because they do not need to give painful injections. Drops for the sublingual ASIT method are commercially available.

How to determine the beginning of birch flowering

Since my daughter has birch flowering hay fever, I studied a lot about this particular type of allergy.

” Birch juice begins to move with the establishment of a constant positive temperature, so the first symptoms of hay fever begin to appear 1 - 2 weeks before the birch begins to bloom.

For many, allergic rhinitis begins as soon as the snow melts, probably due to rotting leaves, maybe due to the flowering of other trees that bloom before birch - willow, hazel. Due to the fact that it is necessary to start treatment and follow a diet in advance, it is necessary to learn to predict the onset of flowering. It's difficult, but possible.

” I tried to derive a pattern from the date of Easter. It turned out that if we add about 1-2 weeks to the date of Easter, we will get the beginning of birch dusting, but, unfortunately, this rule does not apply every year.

Year/Date of Easter/Flowering period

• 2005 / May 1 / May 06 - May 28
• 2006 / April 23 / May 02 -May 27
• 2007 / April 8 / April 25 - May 20th
• 2008 / April 27 / May 5 - May 23
• 2009 / April 19 / May 8 - May 30
• 2010 / April 4 / May 1 - May 26-30 - very early Easter
• 2011 / April 24 / April 20 - May 20 - dusting began before Easter
• 2012 / April 15 / April 29 - May 27
• 2013 / May 5 / May 3 - May 31 - dusting began before Easter
• 2014 / April 20 / April 24 - May 17
• 2015 / April 12 / dusting from April 25

” But it turned out that the flowering of birch lasts 18-29 days, on average 22 days, and the later the birch begins to dust, the faster it fades.

Rice. 1. Catkins of a birch tree about to bloom,

Rice. 3. Flowering birch catkins.

” You can purchase a peak flow meter; it allows you to measure the peak exhalation of a child at home and understand whether there are breathing problems.

Instructions for the peak flow meter are included; learning to use is very easy and quick. The results are always informative: if the indicators began to decline by more than 20% from average norm exhale, you need to start preparing for flowering.

Rice. 4. Normal peak expiratory flow in children.

The graph is taken from the website of the Asthma Center “Asthma-Service”

How to tell if a birch tree has bloomed

• When a birch tree fades, its earrings, for the most part, fall off either after rain, or after wind, or on their own. If there is no one to ask to see if the birch catkins have fallen, you can look pollen monitoring online , however, Novosibirsk is not in the list of cities, but there is Barnaul, which has not yet started displaying records this year. However, you can focus on Moscow.

• There is much less yellow-green dust on parked cars, in puddles, and on window sills - this was pollen that had settled from the air.

” After the birch tree blooms, you need to wash the windows, wash the curtains, wipe down everything in the apartment that pollen could have settled on.

Air purifiers

To alleviate the symptoms of hay fever, air purifiers help somewhat, for example, our members of the forum used and were satisfied with the Super Turbo Plus and Sevezh purifiers, as well as Boneco air washers. The principles of operation of these devices are different, but the purpose is the same - to capture and collect allergens on their filters: pollen, dust, and odors.

” To select a purifier, you need to know the cubic capacity of the rooms. If it is not possible to equip each room with a purifier, then it is better to buy a portable one.

When purchasing, you should consider how to care for the device, whether it has a replaceable or washable part that catches dust and pollen, and whether it will be easy to care for. The presence of an ionization function is not important for those suffering from hay fever.

“Escape” from flowering as a way to treat hay fever

It would be ideal to leave every year when the grasses and trees are in bloom, because treating allergies is primarily about avoiding the allergen, as well as training the immune system by hardening water procedures, taking air salt baths while walking along the sea coast, frequent walks and long games in the fresh air.

We tried to get away from the birch blossoms. You can go to an area where the birch tree is either not yet blooming (for example, northern territories, where the snow melting is still far away), or has already faded ( southern territories), or where it simply does not grow (this choice is more difficult, most likely these are only deserts, endless steppes, but grasses grow in the steppes that can cause hay fever).

When choosing a location, you should take into account the flowering calendars for different cities; they are, of course, very generalized, but you can still roughly determine the departure date and buy tickets in advance. You can also rely on the above methods for determining birch flowering (outdoor temperature, including weather forecast for the month ahead, peak flowmetry, sap flow). If you can’t guess the beginning of flowering, and you have to get to the train station or airport during flowering, buy a mask, glasses, etc. in advance.

Flowering calendars for Krasnodar, Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities can be found on pollen monitoring site .

Acquaintances went to Sochi, Almaty, Turkey, Egypt, Thailand during the flowering period. We were leaving for Anapa, but unknowingly ended up during the acacia flowering period and had an asthma attack. We quickly stopped the attack, but got a strong side effect.

Side effects of bronchodilators

The treatment regimen for hay fever has been developed a long time ago and is used quite successfully, but you also need to know about adverse reactions some medications. Be sure to ask an allergist about this, ask how you can eliminate the side effect without calling a doctor, and in what cases urgent help is needed.

Spring is a time when a certain part of the population experiences suffering. A stuffy nose, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, reddened eyes, and running tears are signs of hay fever, also known as seasonal allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, or, in the old sense, hay fever. In severe cases, attacks of suffocation occur and can be provoked bronchial asthma. The old name - hay fever - arose because earlier cause This disease was considered to be components of hay. But at the end of the 19th century, David Blankley proved that it was caused by plant pollen.

Diagnosis of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis is carried out using skin tests for allergens. Allergic reaction occurs in humans due to a foreign protein. Pollen grains contain many different proteins, some of which are needed to distinguish one's own species from another's when pollen from one flower lands on the stigma of another flower.

It is these proteins that cause allergies in a person sensitive to them when they get on the mucous membranes.

Hay fever is a seasonal disease, especially common among residents of large cities. U different people allergies occur to pollen from different plants - there is some specialization here.

The most powerful allergens among plants in the middle zone are considered to be birch and cereals. Moreover, birch blooms in the spring, at the end of April - May, and cereals - in June - July.

In August, imported ragweed pollen reaches even the Moscow region, and this inconspicuous weed is one of the most powerful allergens. Ambrosia is the scourge of the southern regions. In the Stavropol Territory, during its flowering, up to 40% of local residents get sick.

Elena Severova, leading researcher at the Faculty of Biology and head of the aeropalynological monitoring group, told Gazeta.Ru about the situation with plant dusting this year.

“This year, spring dusting was very compact in terms of timing. There was almost no birch, which is the most powerful allergen among flowering trees. Now practically nothing generates dust except pine.

Pine produces yellow pollen, it is clearly visible in all puddles, and we explain to everyone that this pollen is not dangerous for allergy sufferers. The first grains of cereals appear in the air, but the peak of cereal dusting is usually in June - it will probably be the same this year.

Cereals are one of the most powerful allergens in our region. But there are still not many of them in the city, especially if they mow the grass. Outside the city, people suffer more from grain allergies.”

The aeropalynological monitoring station at Moscow State University has been operating since 1992, from March to September. Experts are taking readings from a pollen trap installed on the roof of the Moscow State University weather station. The trap, scientifically called a “volumetric dust collector,” is designed very simply. The weather vane turns it in the wind, air is pumped through it, and suspended particles fall onto the adhesive tape of the drum, which rotates slowly. Every morning, employees change the drum and analyze the daily pollen “harvest” in the laboratory.

Pollen different types plants look different under a microscope. Biologists calculate the content of pollen grains of different types per cubic meter of air per day and record the data on pollen monitoring site. On this site you can see a plant pollen calendar, which also notes the level of pollen in the air that is dangerous for allergy sufferers.

As Elena Severova already said, now allergy sufferers need to prepare for the flowering of cereals in June. “But you have to keep in mind that the trap is located high up, and the pollen content at human height levels, such as sign pollen, may be slightly different,” she adds.

Pollen has no boundaries and travels thousands of kilometers with the wind. Therefore, the dust collector at Moscow State University naturally records not only pollen from the flowering of local plant species, but also foreign ones.

The most dangerous representative of foreign pollen in our country is ragweed pollen, which Moscow biologists regularly find in a trap.

But ambrosia itself, unfortunately, is moving north along the railroads.

The aeropalynological monitoring station at Moscow State University operates as the center of a national network - employees summarize data from several aeropalynological stations in Russia and present these results to the European center, which compiles a dust calendar for all of Europe. Allergy sufferers should take advantage of this information before going on a trip so as not to ruin their vacation.

— during the peak flowering of dangerous plants, go outside less, especially in dry, windless weather; protect windows with anti-pollen mesh;
- do not avoid walking in the forest, as trees filter pollen and its concentration in the forest decreases;
- limit physical activity outside the home to inhale less pollen;
- exclude alcohol, which dilates blood vessels, as a result of which the mucous membrane becomes more permeable;
- wear sunglasses for eye protection;
- rinse your nose after going outside;
- It is better to take anti-allergy medications before contact with allergens, and not after.

Russian experts add to this list a recommendation for allergy sufferers to wash their hair more often to wash off pollen and to exclude certain foods from their diet. So, in the spring, during the flowering period of trees, do not consume their fruits; exclude them during the flowering period of cereals. bakery products, during the flowering period of asteraceae, such as sunflower, exclude sunflower oil, mayonnaise, seeds.