20 Ways to Stop Allergies

It’s like a scene from a low-budget horror flick: the trees are blooming, the grass is growing … and runny-nosed zombies are invading the planet! Seasonal allergies are here, but if you’re one of the sniffly multitudes, you may have noticed that the “allergy season” can span most of the year (and that symptoms may flare right before your period).

Here’s your best defense—from least to most invasive, medically speaking. Try the first few and you may not need to hit the pharmacy at all.

1) Tree pollens, grasses and weeds — Your symptoms surfaced as early as February, when trees started blooming. Right now, it’s grasses that are making you miserable (they will through late summer). Weeds will keep you wheezing through fall.   To police pollen, Click on the National Allergy Bureau’s website for a daily ranking of allergens, including seasonal tree pollens, grasses, weeds, and outdoor molds. Stay indoors when levels are high or very high for those that you’re sensitive to.

2) Wear a mask — If you must finish that gardening before the in-laws show up, don a not-so-chic but très useful N95 filter mask ($25 for 20), which keeps pollen out of your nose and mouth.

3) Wash your hair at night — Rinse the pollen out, especially if you’re a gel or mousse fan. These products can trap pollen.

4) Soak up the calm — In one study, seasonal allergy (hay fever) sufferers had a more extreme reaction the day after performing a stressful task, such as giving a speech.  “Stress raises levels of the hormone cortisol,” says Clifford Bassett, MD, an allergist at New York University Medical Center, and that often leads to an amped-up allergic response.  A few minutes of meditation or a soak in the tub should help.

5) Keep your nose clean — “Your nose is like a car windshield—pollen sticks to it,” says Neil Kao, MD, an allergist at the Allergic Disease and Asthma Center, in Greenville, S.C.  Try a saline sinus rinse, found at any drugstore.  If that doesn’t do it, buy the nonprescription herbal nasal spray NasalCrom (cromolyn sodium), which helps prevent allergic reactions in your nose.

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— By Hallie Levine Sklar and the Good People at Health.com

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Chief Medical Officer notes concerns, approaches on youth obesity

In a January 2012 edition of the Arizona Republic’s “Living Well” special section, Vishu Jhaveri, M.D., senior vice president of health services and chief medical officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona was quoted about the challenges of child obesity.

“Obesity probably reflects many of the factors in our western culture like the way we cook and the ingredients that we use or don’t use,” Jhaveri said. “More than one-third of kids in our country today are obese, and another one-third are overweight. So that is two-thirds of our kids beyond what they should be in terms of their weight. That is a problem.”

Jhaveri pointed out that parents should focus on the amount of physical activity kids are engaged in and how much time they are spending in front of the TV, on phones and playing computer games.

“The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Arizona chapter put out an initiative based on a national model that we like here at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona called 5-2-1-0,” Jhaveri explained.

• FIVE servings of fruits and vegetables a day
• TWO hours or less of screen time
• ONE hour or more of significant physical activity
• ZERO calories from soda

“A lot of states have rallied around these concepts,” Jhaveri said.

(information provided by BCBSAZ)

Need more information to help keep your kids healthy?  Call us at (520) 721-4848.