Travel, food, and festivities are an important part of Christmas and holiday celebrations. Here are some helps for those with food allergies:

Food allergy travelers on their own — If you’re travelling by plane, “dig…for stray nuts…wipe off the tray and arm rests,” says the President of the Illinois Food Allergy Education Association.

Allergy Allert Cards — This site allows you to print Allergy Cards to use while travelling or eating out. AllergyCards.com provides this service for free. Tip: Send allergy cards ahead of your visit to family and friends. Ask them to prepare food or scout out restaurants with your allergy needs in mind.

Maneuvering through the allergy obstacle course — Here’s how restaurants in one local town work to make sure their customers with food allergies have a safe dining experience.

Holiday Baking for Kids with Food Allergies — If you’re baking your own goodies, you’ll love these “easy substitutes for allergy-friendly holiday baking.”

Monthly Recipes — The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network’s December recipe column gives instructions for “Traditional Holiday Sugar Cookies,” “Chanukah Fudge Layer Cake,” and more. Or you can purchase their “Food Allergy News Holiday Cookbook” here.

Just when you thought seasonal allergies were gone for the winter, here come the holidays. Christmas trees and holiday decorations can be a source of woe for the allergy sufferer. I’ve gathered some goodies to help you fight back:

Christmas Trees - Mountain Cedar — One in 10 people is allergic to mountain cedar which begins releasing pollen in late November. Most other evergreen trees pollinate during the spring.

While Scotch pines and Douglas firs may be a safer choice, any live Christmas tree can be trouble for mold allergy sufferers.

Washing Off Christmas Tree Helps Curb Allergies according to one story. But just rinsing the tree was not enough. Read the story to see how a fruit and vegetable cleaner was used to clean the tree.

Don’t think just because you have an artificial tree you’re allergy-free, though. Artificial trees and holiday decorations often gather mold and dust during storage. When you bring them out during the dry winter months, the dust and mold spores can easily be dispersed in the air.

To prevent this, wipe dusty items with a wet cloth. Launder cloth items and discard any moldy decorations that cannot easily be cleaned. Dry thoroughly before storage and store covered in a dry area to prevent mold growth and dust accumulation.

Avoiding Allergens During the Holidays — Want more ideas? Here’s a host of holiday tips for allergy sufferers from Discovery Health.

Much of the U.S. is either well past the first frost of the season, or about enter this doorway that heralds relief from Ragweed symptoms. But as you cross the threshold, beware. Cedar is on it’s way!

Two of the most common Cedars that cause allergies in the U.S., Mountain Cedar and Eastern Redcedar (also called Eastern Red Cedar), are actually Junipers. Cedar/Juniper is the most common winter pollen allergen in the U.S.

Cedar usually pollinates from November through March in the U.S. But in some areas or seasons it can start pollinating as early as October, and it can continue as late as May.

Cedar is quite a loner. Sometimes a person is allergic to multiple trees as well as Cedar. But we often find that a patient will be allergic to most of the trees we test for — except Cedar. Other times we will see a Cedar allergy without allergy to any other tree. Of course, this can happen with other trees too. But it happens most frequently with Cedar.

So if you are one of those who sniffle and sneeze during Cedar season, get ready. Stock up on your allergy medicine and close the all the windows and doors. Because Cedar is coming!

See also from Wikipedia:
Juniperus virginiana (Eastern Redcedar).
Juniperus ashei (Mountain Cedar).

Ragweed may be tickling noses in much of the world, but August to mid-October is Springtime in South Africa. Tree pollen is the culprit for many of the sneezes and sniffles in this subtropical climate.

According to South Africa’s Health24, pollens that cause allergies in South Africa this time of year are Grey Alder, White Elm, Olive, London Plane, Willow and Cottonwood.

You can read more about the weather and climate of South Africa here.

Rainy weather boosted the pollen count this fall in places like Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

But if you live in Cincinnati, Ohio, take heart! Here’s an excerpt from the August 27, 2006, issue of The Cincinnati Enquirer which quotes Anna Kelley, quality assurance and monitoring coordinator for the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services:

Ragweed pollen should be peaking about now….

[but] as far as ragweed goes, “we’re a little behind last year’s values, which is fine,” Kelley said.

See the entire Enquirer story here: Dry August eases allergy symptoms.

From California to Ontario, New York, and Florida, ragweed seems to have made it’s debut early and with a bumper crop this August.

Lansing, Michigan:
Worst summer for allergies in decades
“The pollen count is…the highest it’s been in fifty years…. Ragweed everywhere and no relief in sight.” [WLNS, Lansing]

Los Angeles, California
Bumper crop of ragweed kicks off allergy season
“Summer rains followed by hot, dry temperatures in many areas have produced a bumper crop of ragweed.” [NBC4, Los Angeles]

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:
Break out of the mold
“A particularly bad year for mold spores and an accelerating ragweed season are giving them itchy eyes and runny noses.” [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]

Ontario, Canada
Achoo! Ragweed arrives early
“Ragweed has made her a prisoner in her own house…. ‘It was July 30 when it started and it hasn’t stopped.’” [Hamilton Spectator, Ontario Canada]

Washington, DC
Ragweed arrives early in district
“If you’re an allergy sufferer who is feeling a little off this morning in that allergy-related kind of way, you can thank ragweed season for arriving two weeks early.” [DCist, Washington, DC]

Little Rock, Arkansas
Heat, humidity fueling hay fever
“Doctors say an increase in pollen, ragweed, and mold is creating more cases of hay fever.” [Today’s THV, Little Rock, Arkansas]

Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg, Florida
Ragweed season starting up for allergy sufferers
“Ragweed season is upon us…. And this year, people may suffer more than ever.” [WTSB, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida]

New York City, NY
Ways to cope with a brutal allergy season
“Allergy sufferers, the early predictions are in and get ready for an especially brutal fall season.” [WABC-TV, New York]

What’s biggest fall allergen? If you said “Ragweed,” you’re right, but…

[August 17, 2006] Rockford Register Star, Rockford, Illinois, reports:
Right now is prime season for the dreaded ragweed, but Rockford pharmacist Raj Patel has been busier treating allergies of a different sort.

‘Bee-sting allergies are the biggest thing right now,’ said Patel….

‘About September, when it starts getting a little cooler, that’s when we see more people with (seasonal) allergies.’

See the entire Rockford Register Star article here:
Allergies: Culprits change, misery doesn’t

Spring is the season when we throw back the curtain of winter and welcome a bright new start. Not only do we feel the urge to dig and plant outside; we want to dig out from clutter winter has imposed upon us inside too. As we freshen our homes, let’s also remember to clear out indoor allergens that have accumulated over winter.

If anyone should know how to do that, it is Katie Weaver. Katie grew up with allergies. Katie writes:

I am so glad that Americans are thinking of ways to make homes and living environments healthier. After all, when my dad worked to make our home more allergy-friendly, it drastically reduced my allergic symptoms. There are lots of simple solutions to make a healthier home, and should you want or need to hire outside service companies for cleaning or remediation, be sure that they are reputable and doing their job in the healthiest way possible.

Katie’s father used the things he had learned while helping Katie to start his own company that helps others with allergies. In 1991, when I first got into the allergy nursing field, National Allergy was in it’s infancy. But I learned from them. I’d often hold one of their patient education flyers in one hand and the phone receiver in the other as I helped a patient with allergy symptoms. A few years ago, National Allergy became one of our sponsors here at AllergyNursing.com. Today I still go to their website to look up info to help patients. I’ve learned that I can trust them to recommend only the best products and services. With all the scams and price gougers out there, that means a lot to me!

So for those who could use a little help with Spring allergy cleaning, I’m proud to recommend editor Katie Weaver’s May 2006 issue of National Allergy e-mail newsletter: Home Service Companies - Avoiding Scams and Getting the Most for Your Money.

Allergy sufferers in all climates have a common sound in the Spring. Spring is often dubbed the “Sneezin’ Season.”

People are so used to the sound of a sneeze that even the loudest “Achooooo!” rarely gets much attention. How long has it been since you saw heads turn to see who sneezed behind them during a formal lecture? But try singing or whistling ever so softly during the lecture and see what happens! So, since the sneeze is so acceptable, how should you do it?

If you thought stiffling the sneeze to lessen attention and the spread of germs is the way to go, think again. Baylor University published an item this week that praises the lowly sneeze and explains the proper technique! See:
Allergy Sufferers Should Bless Sneezing

According to the Baylor article, “The person doing the sneezing, more often than the amount or kind of irritant, determines if the sneeze comes out as a gale-force windstorm or several small ach-oos.” Click the link above to discover the best way to do it and the dangers of doing it wrong!

Traditionally, it has been felt that the cleaner, the better. For example, see:
Spring cleaning can help keep allergies in check.

Now there is new research. See:
Allergy Alert: Too clean is not good
and:
To head off allergies, expose your kids to pets and dirt early. Really.

But most still agree that if your child has asthma and allergies already, you need to limit their exposure to the things they are allergic to. At our clinic, we still recommend making the bedroom an ‘allergy-free zone’ for those with environmental allergies.

This item, provided by one of our AllergyNursing.com sponsors, shows how to do that step-by-step:
Interactive Allergy-Proof Bedroom