Christmas and Allergy
Friday, November 30th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
‘Tis the season to be wheezing.
A new study warns that bringing a real Christmas tree into a home can multiply the mould-spore count by five times the normal level - increasing allergy symptoms.
“It’s one of the many triggers that people with allergies and asthma have to put up with at Christmas time,” said Lilly Byrtus, Edmonton-area co-ordinator for the Allergy Asthma Information Association. “When the tree warms up, the mould is released and may cause symptoms like sneezing or a throat tickle that lead to a cough.
“The worst-case scenario is that it might cause an asthma flare-up and leave you sick for the holidays, which is the last thing people want.”
But the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, which presented the study at its annual meeting in Dallas this month, also warns much research remains to be done. And Ambris Ford, a respiratory therapist with the Asthma Society of Canada, adds that a tree is only one of thousands of possible sources of misery for allergy sufferers.
