Dr. Clifford Bassett is interviewed by on ABC News Healthy Living host Dan Kloeffler on the subject of allergies and asthma aggravated by post storm flooding and standing water. As Dr Bassett explains at this time of year we are getting hit by a double whammy: ragweed pollen and post storm mold spores.
Seasonal Allergies
An Epic Allergy Season – Dr. Bassett on ABC News
ABC News’ Andrea Canning files news report including information provided by Dr. Bassett on why this season is being called an epic allergy season.
5 Ways Hurricane Irene May Trigger and Worsen Your Allergies and Asthma
Hurricane Irene has already brought wind, rain, storm surges and of course flooding to millions on the east coast this weekend. But another possible consequence is that it can stir up your allergies and asthma symptoms.
Stormy weather including tropical storms and hurricanes can worsen allergies and asthma because as increased gusty winds can seriously spread wet mold spores into the air. Additionally, if a homeowner looses power, air conditioning which filters and dehumidifiers warm, humid air can allow outdoor allergens (particularly mold spores) to enter the home and trigger that pesky allergy associated symptoms. In many areas we are already seeing high levels of various pollens including Ragweed, weeds and mold spores.
Of course indoor water damaged areas can be problematic due to mildew and mold growth as a result, especially in basements, ground level areas as well as water damaged walls, ceilings and flooring. With Hurricane Katrina both allergic and non-allergic people needed mold remediation measures as a result of excessive water damage.
In those with chronic or persistent respiratory problems such as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema that may be in jeopardy if power outages result in loss of electricity needed for compressor driven home “nebulized” asthma medications. Alternative medications and therapies need be part of an asthma action plan that should be in place for those at risk.
- If you suffer from allergies remember that opening windows may aggravate symptoms as outdoor allergens enter the home.
- If you have pet allergies, be prepared for a spike in allergy symptoms as a result of closer and prolonged exposure in a relatively closed environment.
- Engage the “do not re-circulate” mode for your air conditioner to reduce outdoor allergens from entering your home.
- Change your home air conditioner/furnace filters regularly.
- Mold growth can build up from fallen leaves, branches around your home. You can measure indoor humidity levels by using an inexpensive room “hygrometer”.
- Consider if humidity surge as a result of rain and flooded areas, expect that indoor humidity levels will surge (over 50%). Be aware that the use a room or central dehumidifier can help to prevent mildew growth that can worsen respiratory allergies.
- Have your prescribed and OTC allergy and asthma medications in close proximity and on hand (especially important if you have a power loss).
- Work with your family allergist or asthma specialist (www.allergyandasthmarelief.
org ) to learn the warning signs of uncontrolled asthma and have a plan in place for worsening symptoms, as well as your health care provider’s emergency contact information.
Ten Ways to Protect Your Lungs During a Heat Wave
- Consider indoor activities and exercise on hot, high pollen and humid days
- Watch out for “ozone alert” days, when your lungs need to work even harder
- Keep your prescription asthma rescue inhaler with you at all times
- Know the signs of an asthma attack as well as heat related symptoms
- Lose weight, more than half of ER visits for asthma are seen in obese individuals in some studies
- Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated during hot weather time periods
- Make sure you have an allergist directed asthma action plan in place to prevent “attacks”: www.allergyandasthmarelief.org.
- Remember, heat and humidity can make it more difficult to keep your body cool and comfortable, to avoid your body systems from working harder, increasing your need for oxygen.
- Change your air conditioner filters frequently during peak summer and allergy season.
- Treat your underlying seasonal allergies that will also help fight and prevent asthma, too.
Tips for an Allergy-Free Vacation
Dr. Bassett’s Traveling with Allergies Survival Kit
1. Tips for Seasonal and Indoor Allergies
- Plan ahead, bring all allergy and asthma medications
- Sunglasses block out pollens (especially on windy days)
- Wash Wisely: Shampoo your hair nightly and avoid hair “gels” that trap pollens and gently irrigate your eyelids with mild, tear free shampoo after outdoors
- Take allergen pillow encasing with you
- Check out pollen count and forecast before you travel – know peak pollen season wherever you travel to prevent symptoms
- Exercise indoors or avoid early morning when pollen levels are typically higher [windy days are associated with highest pollen levels]
- By the “sea”: Pollen levels are generally lower by a beach, river or lake, or any body of water or the mountains as dust mites won’t thrive above higher elevations about 2,500 feet
- Pack your medications in “original” labeled bottles and containers – keep on “carry on” and not luggage, in case of loss or theft
- If traveling by car, roll up windows and use the air-conditioner on “do not recirculate”
- Call your hotel and see if they have “green” allergy friendly room, get a NO SMOKING room, request wood, tile or vinyl floors in lieu of “carpeted” rooms
- Request a NO SMOKING rental car, whenever possible
- Keep nasal saline with you on longer flights to keep your nose moist
2. Tips for Traveling with Asthma
- Always keep your “rescue” medications in your carry on, not your checked bag
- Travel with an anti-allergen pillow cover if you have indoor allergies
- Avoid sitting near a passenger with “strong perfumes” whenever possible
- Inform the airline staff if you have pet induced asthma to avoid any surprises if a passenger is traveling with their pet(s) [up to 20% of those with asthma have pet allergies]
- Keep your health care provider/allergist’s telephone contact information and list of all medications with you before you travel
- Check with your doctor if you will be traveling to areas above 5,000 feet
- Continue to take your daily medications on a regular basis, “asthma doesn’t go on vacation”
- Traveling during early morning hours when air pollution is often less of a problem
3. Tips for Food Allergy Sufferers
- Keep safe food and snacks with you, especially if you encounter delays during traveling (keep in your “carry on”)
- Call ahead to airline to learn of their policies if you have a family member with peanut or nut allergies, to reduce risk
- Bring wipes for tray table and surrounding areas if airline/train serves peanuts or other foods that you are allergic to – again to avoid unpleasant and dangerous situations
- Learn how to read food ingredient labels (Be a label detective), when in doubt throw it out
- Bring foods for first day’s meals
- Carry a “chef card” or food allergen restaurant ingredient list of items you need to AVOID
- Be aware of “cross contamination” of food allergens in restaurant and while traveling
- Plan all meals ahead of time
- Wear an “medical identification” bracelet or keep a “wallet” card listing food allergens
- Make sure you are traveling with an epinephrine auto injector if one has been prescribed for life threatening food allergic reactions
- Be aware of the early signs of a food allergic reaction
4. Tips for Skin Allergies
- Travel with “allergy friendly” pillow and mattress covers
- Travel with hypoallergenic soaps, sunscreen, moisturizers and “fragrance free” detergents, etc
- Call ahead to hotel and request “green” rooms with less scented cleaning products
- Bring prescription and otc medications for “poison ivy” and other allergic skin conditions, e.g. eczema that can flare with changes in climate and conditions
Dr Bassett on Fox NY Discusses Protection from Mosquitoes and Ticks
MYFOXNY.COM – Before you get your summer festivities going, you’re going to need to protect yourself from those uninvited guests: mosquitoes and ticks.
If you find you’re getting a lot more bug bites than anyone else at the party, experts say mosquitoes really are attracted to some people more than others.
Dr. Clifford Bassett, the medical director at Allergy and Asthma Care of New York, comes to Fox 5 News with some very helpful tips.
Dr. Bassett on Heat Wave for ABC News Radio
ABC News Radio – Allergy and asthma specialists say they are seeing more patients whose illnesses have been triggered by the heat and humidity as well as by increased levels of pollutants in the air.
“[We] have seen many new patients for the first time with a diagnosis of asthma made worse by heavy pollens and extreme temperature and humidity levels,” said Dr. Clifford Bassett, medical director of Asthma & Allergy Care of New York.
Bassett also said that in addition to pollen, mold levels increase when it’s very humid.
The heat wave is also causing more serious breathing problems, including very severe asthma attacks and a worsening of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). At Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, several patients needed emergency treatment for both these conditions. One of them even needed a breathing tube.
During a heat wave, experts say room air conditioners may not make the environment cool enough.
Bassett advises anyone with allergies or asthma to stay where it’s air conditioned, and to change and clean the filters frequently. If you need to go outside, check the pollen counts and pay special attention to ozone alerts.
Allergies? Good Chance It’s Ragweed Pollen
By KIM CAROLLO, ABC News Medical Unit —
Report Suggests Climate Change a Factor…
“A rising trend in ragweed allergies is entirely different from a rise in ragweed allergen,” said Dr. Harold Nelson, a senior staff physician at National Jewish Hospital in Denver. “One is related to air sampling for pollen and one to [antibody] sensitization of patients, usually ascertained by skin testing.”
Ragweed is most common along the East Coast and in the Midwest. Ragweed and other pollens have been present in record amounts in certain parts of the country because of the unusually heavy rainfall.
“Winter and spring precipitation have created a ‘perfect storm’ for heavy pollen levels and molds,” said Dr. Clifford Bassett, medical director of Allergy and Asthma Care of New York. “Higher pollen levels [have] in part [been] from increased carbon dioxide (greenhouse gases) that supercharge plants, trees, etc. to produce and release more pollen.”
Experts also say ragweed seasons are getting longer, especially in the Southwest, where it can plague allergy sufferers well into the fall.
Whether ragweed levels are truly higher and whatever may be causing them, it’s going to be a very long summer — and possibly fall — for millions of Americans.
“The allergic epidemic is here to stay,” said Dr. Bassett.
Allergies or Chronic Sinusitis? Most Get It Wrong and Don’t Get Treated
By COURTNEY HUTCHISON, ABC News Medical Unit –
The pollen count is through the roof and once again, you have a stuffy nose, sinus pain, fatigue and reduced sense of smell and taste. Oh great, another bad allergy season, you think.
And you’d be wrong. These are the hallmarks of a sinus infection, not allergies, though most allergy patients can’t tell the difference, according to a recent survey by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
In an online survey of more than 600 asthma and allergy patients, researchers found that about half self-diagnosed their symptoms as allergies when really they had a sinus infection, or sinusitis.
Despite the fact that 70 percent of those surveyed most trust a primary care physician to correctly diagnose allergies or sinusitis, only 36 percent reported consulting a physician when they had symptoms of these conditions.
“This study highlights how often people diagnose themselves. We’re human. It’s a natural response to go online and come up with our own diagnosis, but 10 to 15 times a day I get patients coming in convinced they have X, when really they have Y,” says Dr. Stacey Silvers, an ear, nose, and throat doctor at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City.
For years, New Yorker Dawn Burley, 27, figured her headaches, facial pain and fatigue were just the signs of seasonal allergies and migraines. But allergy medication didn’t lessen her symptoms, and she hated treating the pain of her migraines without knowing their cause. She had such severe pressure and pain around her eyes that she would become sensitive to light and had difficulty sleeping.
“It was really ruining my life. I’d have so many days where I could barely function,” she says. It wasn’t until she saw Silvers that anyone put her symptoms together and realized she had sinus problems. Though she had been diagnosed with acute sinus infections in the past, no doctor had recognized that Burley had chronic sinusitis because of the way her sinuses were formed.
After receiving a small implant to open her sinus passageways — a more extensive treatment than most require — Burley says she could breathe easier and sleep sounder, and had more stamina. “I didn’t even realize that these things could get better,” Burley says.
This is not uncommon of those with untreated sinus or allergy problems, Silvers says. “I’ve had patients tell me they didn’t know it wasn’t normal that their nose was always clogged at night. They didn’t realize that most people can breathe out of both sides of their nose. People get used to these things, and they don’t think it’s abnormal or treatable,” she says.
Sinus Infection vs. Allergies — How Do You Know?
Thirty-five million Americans suffer from nasal allergies and 7 million suffer from chronic sinus infections, yet most people can’t tell the difference between these two conditions.
“There is abundant confusion between cold, sinus and allergy symptoms,” says Dr. Clifford Bassett, medical director of the Allergy and Asthma Care of New York. This means that often these conditions get mistreated or go untreated, which can lead to “chronic nasal congestion and associated symptoms” that can affect quality of life as well as daytime performance, he says.
Symptom Breakdown
Here’s a breakdown of which symptoms belong to which ailments.
The Common Cold — “Cold and allergy can present similarly,” says Silvers, so the defining difference is the length: If your congested nose and breathing difficulty last longer than seven to 10 days, it’s probably not a cold. Most likely, it’s allergies, and needs to be treated with an antihistamine, not a decongestant.
Seasonal Allergies — If your sinus congestion is accompanied by watery or itchy eyes and it tends to last several weeks, it’s may be allergies, says Silvers. The problem is, many often treat their allergies like a cold, with over-the-counter decongestants, which will work in the short run but are not advisable. “When someone is taking a daytime decongestant every day and a nighttime one to sleep, for weeks and weeks, this is not good,” she says. Especially when their allergy might be due to an environmental trigger, such as a feather pillow, that could be easily eliminated.
Sinusitis or Chronic Sinusitis — With sinusitis, the nasal passageways become inflamed and the liter or more of mucus created every day by your body gets backed up in the sinuses. “This is when you get patients complaining of headache, pressure or pain in their face and chronic fatigue,” Silvers says.
A headful of mucus is an exhausted head, one that’s hard to lift off the pillow and patients can be irritable and fatigued on most days,” says Silvers. If you suffer from facial tenderness, pressure or pain, headache behind the eyes and forehead, or loss of taste or smell and fatigue, you may have sinusitis.
If you experience this three or more times a year, you may have chronic sinusitis, like Burley, and should consult with your physician or an ear, nose and throat specialist. What most people don’t know, Silvers says, is that you can have sinusitis without having a runny or stuffy nose or difficulty breathing, because the mucus is congested further back in the sinuses.
If you suffer from any of the above symptoms and they do not resolve within a week or so (and hence are unlikely to be a cold or flu), you should consider seeing your physician, who may refer you to an allergist or an ear, nose and throat specialist.
How to Stay Mosquito Bite-Free This Spring and Summer!
The pesky mosquitoes are getting ready for their annual comeback, especially since the weather has been warmer, and in some cases wet.
QUESTION: So who is tastier, men or women? And is there real scientific data about which sex gets bitten more frequently?
ANSWER: Yes and No.
Bug researchers seem to think that about one in ten people may be “extremely attractive” to biting mosquitoes and “larger” individuals give off more carbon dioxide and there may (adults more so than children) increase your chances of bites. It also means if you are exercising, giving off more CO2 from panting, this can draw the mosquitoes in closer for their evening meal Pregnant women may also be a target for a similar reason. So there may be differences in body chemistry and scents that can affect our getting the “bite”. Remember, it is no joke; we have seen sporadic outbreaks of West Nile Virus due to “infected” mosquitoes each year. In some individuals this illness can pose real danger and cause severe illness, especially in the older adults and those with compromised immune systems.
Bite-Free Tips
• Use insect repellent according to label instructions
• Choose the correct concentration of “DEET” for your outdoor activity
• The higher concentrations of active “repellent” will provide longer duration of protection, and products with ≤10% active ingredient may offer only limited protection, often from 1–2 hours.
• Reapply the insect repellent according to the label instructions
• Limit DEET containing repellents to not more than 10% on young children
• Pyrethrum may be applied to your clothing, shoes, jackets, etc
• Never apply to children’s fingers, hands and “near the mouth”
• Always apply to you first and then to your child
• Avoid applying repellents to areas near the mouth and eyes
• Some botanical oils [e.g. oil of lemon and eucalyptus] can provide protection (although in most studies, they will not necessarily last as long as DEET containing repellents)
• Keep your screens in optimal condition to keep mosquitoes out
• Wear long sleeves and pants, especially when hiking
• Wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants, and “tucking” in as well as wearing socks and “closed shoes”.
• Do a “tick” check after exposure
• Avoid dusk and dawn, and during the evening after dark. This may reduce the day’s “prime biting” time periods
• After returning indoors, wash treated skin with soap and water or bathe, similarly wash “treated clothing” before wearing again.