Can Adults Develop Seasonal Allergies? Symptoms and Treatments, Explained

Decades after you never experienced a seasonal allergy, you suddenly sneeze and sniff with the millions of Americans suffering from them. what happened?

“People tend to think of allergies as childhood,” says Dr. Tory Epstein, a part-time assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, who studies allergies and immunology, “people tend to think of allergies as early as early as early as their lives,” not what they can get, but what they can get later in life. But “it’s very common to develop new allergies,” she said, especially in her 20s, 30s and 40s. And the symptoms are not always obvious.

Most people with seasonal allergies suffer from sneezing, itchy eyes and nasal traffic. However, they can also be accompanied by fatigue, headaches and sinus pressure. This could be mistaken for cold symptoms if you have never faced an allergy before, Dr. Epstein said.

Dr. Andrew Rory, an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Allergy and Immunology Department, recently developed a pollen allergy, may experience itching in the mouth after eating certain raw fruits and vegetables. That’s because the immune system can disrupt the proteins of plants due to pollen proteins, he said.

What causes seasonal allergies to develop?

Seasonal allergies are responses to environmental factors such as pollen and mold spores, which tend to swirl in the air at certain times, such as spring when plants pollinate. If you are allergic to something like pollen, your immune system will recognize it as a threat and will cause a chain reaction upon exposure. Nasal or lung antibodies stimulate the release of chemicals such as histamine.

Scientists are not sure exactly why they develop new allergies and symptoms so far, but there are several potential causes. One is that people tend to develop symptoms as climate change begins early and lasts longer, experts say.