The doctor with Allergy & Asthma Specialists of Harrisburg has been dealing with an allergy season that is unusually early and unusually severe.
Zuckerman attributes most of his busy day to his clients spending time outside. The dry weather means the pollens are floating about and a breeze will send them into your nostrils.
But there also are studies that suggest that climate change has been increasing the frequency, length and severity of allergies during the last few decades.
Mike Tingale, vice president of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Landover, Md., said the incidents of all types of allergies have tripled in the past 30 years. Nasal allergies are the most common, affecting 75 percent of all allergy sufferers.
His organization today is releasing its annual ranking of the top 100 metropolitan areas where people are most likely to suffer from allergies, based on last spring's pollen counts, the number of allergy medications its residents take and the number of allergists in the region. The Harrisburg region ranks No. 61.
A 2010 study by Quest Diagnostics of Madison, N.J., showed a dramatic increase in allergies, particularly to ragweed and mold. It studied 14 million allergy blood tests from 2 million patient visits, and found that the number responding to one of 11 allergens rose by 6 percent from 2005 to 2008. The response to ragweed went up 15 percent, and to molds by 12 percent during that period.
A study by the National Academy of Science showed that the growing season for some plants, including ragweed, increased by nearly a month from 1995 to 2009.
Tingale said carbon-dioxide pollution has created "a tremendous rise in pollen measurement."
"Trees are pollinating earlier and stopping later, and each plant is producing more because plants consume carbon dioxide," he said. "It's a no-brainer that there's just more pollen .... triggering an immune response."
Talal Nsouli, a fellow and board member with the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology who practices in Washington, D.C., said pollen seasons are longer, the amount of pollen that plants produce is greater and the pollens elicit a stronger reaction among those who are susceptible to them.
The increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases plant productivity, he said. While a decade ago a plant might produce 1,000 particles of pollen, today the same plant might produce 2,000 particles, he said.
These pollen particles are also getting stronger, he said, and adhere more strongly to allergy receptors.
The experts all said it is important for people with allergies to get treatment. Left untreated, they can lead to chronic sinus infections, ear infections, asthma and fatigue.
"The good news is, we have outstanding treatments," Nsouli said.
Treatments include medications, allergy shots and avoiding the allergens.
"We usually have something for everyone," Zuckerman said.
Some people have complained of suffering from allergies all winter, Zuckerman said. That is probably due to the record rains last year coupled with the mild winter that has allowed molds to linger.
The tree pollen count for the Harrisburg area Monday was very high, according to a Weather Channel report.
Chris Evanego, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in State College, said temperatures between Jan. 1 and Sunday were the third highest on record dating to the late 1800s. Last week's temperatures were 15 to 20 degrees above normal, and temperatures for the next few days are expected to again reach the 70s and, on Thursday, 82.
Considering that spring starts today, "that's pretty warm," Evanego said. ¶
It also has been abnormally dry, another factor that can lead to higher pollen counts. Precipitation from Jan. 1 to 5 p.m. Monday was 1.5 inches below normal, and March had seen only 0.3 inch of rain.