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Hay today… gone tomorrow

Posted on 18. Jun, 2010 by Shandy in Health, People

Last night, after work, my friend and I decided to enjoy the last few hours of the sun in the park.

I spent the next hour trying to understand my friend’s various updates on her job and love life though a series of sneezes and nose-blowing episodes…she had forgotten to take an antihistamine and was having an allergic reaction to the invisible pollen which surrounded us. Having been a hayfever sufferer since a small child – cue flashback to summer playtimes spent with wet green paper towels plastered to my swollen eyes whilst my friends played in the freshly cut grass – I was able to sympathise with her. As it turns out, so could 15 million other Brits.

This fact was included in an article which popped into my inbox yesterday reporting on the use of probiotic yogurts to cure hayfever… sounds like a good alternative to eye drops, nasal sprays and tablets. To me, hayfever is just another part of the summer and now very rarely give it another thought. However a bit of research shows that hayfever is serious business. The array of treatments available is staggering and only a few days ago UK researchers announced that a vaccine could be available as early as next year which could cut ‘symptoms and the need for eye drops and anti-histamine pills by almost half’. This could save us a few pennies as the British shell out £80 million a year on treatments.

In a recent article published in the Independent, Professor Jean Emberlin, director of the National Pollen and Aerobiology Unit at the University of Worcester stated that over the next 20 years the number of hayfever sufferers will increase to 32 million. Contributing factors to this include city living, increased stress, poorer diets, rising car ownership and global warming.

With a bit more digging I found an article from last year reporting on a study which found hayfever to cost the economy £7.1billion a year in lost productivity with workers operating at only 63% of their normal productivity when experiencing symptoms. This is obviously a substantial amount of money in the current economic climate but I’m not sure if hayfever is high on the governments’ agenda… maybe it should be?

As the weekend approaches and I pray that the sun stays out so I can return to the park, I will take comfort in the fact that I will not be the only one with a blanket, book and a pack of tissues… sniff… sniff…

Tags: environment