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Last Updated: 3/2/2009
More than 67 million Americans suffer from Allergies, including Hay Fever. But, what are allergies?
 An allergy is a heightened sensitivity to a foreign substance (called an allergen) which causes the body's defense system (the immune system) to overreact when defending itself. Normally, the immune system would only react if a harmful substance, such as a bacteria, attacks the body. For people with allergies, their own immune system is working too hard, and it reacts even when relatively harmless substances such as pollen are present. The severity of an allergic reaction can vary from mild discomfort to life threatening situations.
Allergens can stimulate an immune response when you breathe in or touch the allergen, or by ingestion of food or beverage, or from injections of medication.
Weather plays an important part for many allergy and hay fever sufferers. This is why we include the weather forecast on our Allery 4-Day forecast page. We are not weather
forecast experts; we get this data straight from real experts, the folks at NOAA.
Any medical or health information included on Pollen.com is provided by SDI Health LLC, a non-medical professional organization. Information from external sources included on Pollen.com, including HealthDay News, are the responsibility of the third-party provider and not of SDI Health LLC.
Healthology.com is Pollen.com's source for the latest allergy videos and articles on our About Allergies page.
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When you have an allergic reaction you may feel a combination of the following symptoms: sneezing, wheezing, nasal congestion, coughing, itchy eyes, stomach ache, and itchy skin.
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Other Helpfull Information:
The following links take you to Web sites outside of Pollen.com which also contain useful allergy information. These sites will open in a new window.
Find Out More About:
Hay Fever (Allergic Rhinitis) or other respiratory allergies.
Asthma which can be triggered by allergies or weather (check your Weather Forecast!).
Your Reaction to Allergens - the symptoms we call allergies.
Treatment Options for Hay Fever.
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Allergy Webcasts:
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The Pollen Index levels, national map and weather forecasts are updated daily (last updated on
July 3, 2009). The HealthDay News section is updated as new articles become available. You can click here for the Healthday News at Pollen.com.
Click here for links to other helpful pollen allergy related information.
Another useful tool for allergy sufferers is our PollenLibrary.com site.
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your best source of allergies and allergy information, such as hay fever, and includes the Allergy four day forecast.
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