SENTINEL WATCH May 16, 2005 Issue

ALLERGY SEASON OR A TIME OF FREEDOM?

BEVERLY GOLDSMITH

ACCORDING TO SCIENTISTS at the University of Melbourne in Australia, 25 percent of the world's population suffers from severe allergic responses to pollen—what one expert calls "the number-one environmental disease today." In an effort to help sufferers of hay fever and other allergies, the university and a group known as Asthma Victoria provide local media outlets with a daily pollen count in the Melbourne area.

Such efforts aren't new. Some years ago, when I lived in Coromandel Valley in the Adelaide foothills of South Australia, a local radio station began announcing whether it was a low-, medium-, or high-risk pollen day. There were many on-air discussions about flowering grasses and weeds, allergy symptoms, and the merits of acupuncture, vaccinations, pharmaceutical drugs, and homeopathic remedies.

As I listened, I was grateful that I'd always worked outdoors in my hillside garden without any allergic reactions. One day, however, that changed. I began experiencing the symptoms of hay fever I'd been hearing about in the news.